Light of Hope 2: New Horizons
by SuperKirbyLand234
Summary: Its been two years since the war between Dr. Eggman and the Resistance ended. Nyx and Infinite are happily married and starting a family of their own but when a new threat and an old familiar foe threaten this newfound peace, its up to the next generation of heroes to save Mobius and a new dimension beyond it. Will they succeed?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the games/characters; I only own my OC characters. All credit goes to the original creators at Sega, please support the official release** ).

~Light of Hope 2: New Horizons~

Chapter 1: The Wedding (Nyx's POV)

I might just be the happiest wolf on the face of Mobius, why am i so happy? It's because today...I'm getting married! That's right, in an hour and a half from now, I will be walking down that aisle, saying my vows and will be betrothed to the man I love...oops, sorry, I seem to be getting a little bit ahead of myself. Here, let me back up and start from the beginning.

It's been two years since the war between the Resistance and Dr. Eggman had ended; he's still trapped in Null Space, thank Chaos, and our lives have remained peaceful ever since. You all already know about Infinite, how he used to be bad but now he's changed his ways all because of the love I've given him and he in turn loved me back.

Because the world was still in shambles due to the war and because Infinite couldn't simply be let off the hook for his misdeeds despite his reformation, his punishment was to serve five years of community service, helping wherever he could to clean up the mess he helped make. It wasn't so bad, he did what he was instructed to do with no questions or complaints and Knuckles was able to make the hours flexible so Infinite would have more time to spend with me.

Now back to the wedding: Infinite and I had been dating for the past two years but he decided to take things to the next level. It was on a Saturday, we were at the beach with our friends and it was also the same day that Sonic introduced me to his other friends, a young rabbit girl named Cream, her little chao companion named Cheese and her mother Vanilla; I hadn't met them before as they were hiding out in one of the secret bunkers with the rest of the evacuated citizens and I was too caught up in the war efforts and the craziness that came when I saved Infinite.

Anyways, I was playing a game of volleyball with Amy, Tails and Rouge when Infinite called me over to talk to him; I had then noticed that we were standing where everyone could see us, not just our friends but all the other people who came to the beach that day. Infinite had looked me in the eyes and said, "Nyx, I truly love you and we've been dating for the last two years and three months, but I feel that's it time to move on to the next chapter in our lives".

At first, I was confused and had no idea what he was talking about until I saw him reach behind his back and pull out a small black box; he opened it to reveal a beautiful ring with a golden band and a single red ruby in the center. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and neither could everyone else because they all looked in our direction as Infinite got down on one knee and presented the ring to me, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you; Nyx Cerulean Snowfall, will you marry me?", he said.

I was suddenly overwhelmed with a strong sense of happiness the likes of which I had never known: I was grinning widely, my tail was wagging furiously and my heart was thumping so hard I thought I'd pass out. I enveloped Infinite in a bone crushing hug as I spun around on my tip toes, "Yes! Yes! Yes! One hundred and twenty percent yes!", I shouted for all the hear. In fact I was so happy that I barely the sound of my friends clapping and cheering all around us.

Now we didn't get married right away, it took us three whole months to plan everything out, from the guest list to the location to the catering...it was a lot of work before our wedding could happen. But that brings us back to where we started, in one hour and a half, I will be getting married to Infinite, but right now I was in the ladies room of the church having my makeup and hair done by Amy and Rouge.

The dress I was wearing was originally my mother's wedding dress, since she and dad weren't around to witness my special day, I thought it be the best way to honor them if Infinite and I wore their wedding clothes; he's over in the men's room having Sonic and Shadow help him into my dad's old tux. Everything was all set, we were just waiting for more of the guests to arrive; I was especially excited because a couple of my family members, some of which who also fought in the war against Eggman, were coming to watch me get married.

I was looking forward to that because I hadn't heard from them since the war happened and I was really concerned for their safety but it turned they're all still okay and are eager to see me get married. Rouge had just finished applying my lipstick and took a step back to admire her work, "And vola! Do I know how to make over a bride or what?", she said. I looked into the mirror on the wall and saw myself, I couldn't believe how beautiful I looked and the bun that Amy did my hair up in looked fantastic.

I turned around and smiled at my two bridesmaids, "Thanks girls, I knew I could count on you two to help me look amazing", I said. They both hugged me, "Of course, Nyx. We'd do anything to make sure you look your best on such a special day", said Amy. "Happy to help, hun. You've been the closest thing I've had to a sister and I'll always be there to help you out", said Rouge. Just then something clicked in my head and I stood up to leave the room, "Nyx, what's wrong?", asked Amy. "Oh nothing is wrong Amy, but since Vector decided to be the bouncer, I have to go see if any of my family members that I invited have arrived yet. In fact, why don't you and Rouge come with me so you can meet them?", I said.

They happily agreed and followed outside to the front of the church, "Hey Vector, anyone from my fam come yet?", I asked. "Not yet but they should be arriving right about now", he said. As if on cue, a limo pulled up to the front of the church; the driver opened it up to let out a light blue male wolf and a red female wolf, both of them middle aged and wearing formal clothing. "Uncle William! Auntie Marina!", I shouted as I skipped down the small flight of stairs to hug them.

"Nyx, its so good to see you again. Look at how much you've grown", said Willam. "And look at you in that dress, so beautiful!", said Marina. Then another wolf stepped out of the limo, this one was younger with red fur and glasses. "Gadget! Its so nice to see you again, how ya been cus?", I said as I hugged him. "Its good to see you too, I haven't heard from you since before the war. And look at you, you look really pretty", he said.

I smiled as I led them up the stairs, "Guys, I want to introduce my Uncle William, my Aunt Marina and their son, my cousin Gadget, who also fought for the Resistance", I said. My aunt, uncle and cousin all stepped forward to shake hands with Amy and Rouge, "Its so nice to meet you all", said Amy.

Just then, another limo pulled up as the first was leaving to go park around back; out of this limo stepped another middle aged Mobian wolf couple, a sandy brown male and a russet red female, and behind them came four identical female wolves only distinguishable by their varying colored fur, dresses and hair ribbons. "And these are my Aunt Rosalina, my Uncle Gregory and their quadruplets: my cousins Audrey, Abigail, Amanda and Olivia", I said.

The girls stepped up to shake hands with my relatives but not before the quads rushed forward to hug me so tightly that it felt like I'd explode from the pressure.

"Oh Nyx, we missed you so much!", said Audrey.

"Its so nice to see you safe and sound after that dreadful war", said Abigail.

"OMC, you look so cute wearing Auntie Angel's old wedding dress!", said Amanda.

"So...when do we get to meet your fiancé, huh?", asked Olivia.

I struggled to break free of their love fueled viselike grip and regain my composure, "Girls, I'm getting married in half an hour. You'll get to meet my soon-to-be husband at the reception party, so why don't you go inside and mingle?", I said. They happily obliged as they followed their parents into the church, "Some family you've got there, hun", said Rouge. I laughed sheepishly, "Yeah and that's still not all of them, there's still six more members that haven't shown up yet", I said.

And as if to refute me, the universe sends one final limo over to the front of the church. Out of this one stepped one last middled wolf couple, a light blue male and a dark pink female, an elderly wolf couple both with silvery grey fur, a tall blue wolf with a mechanical left leg and a shorter violet wolf wearing dark sunglasses and holding a cane.

"And finally, allow me to introduce my Uncle Edmund, my Auntie Sabrina, my cousins Jermaine and his younger brother Lexington and my grandparents Borek and Dahlia", I said. Rouge and Amy got aquatinted before they pulled me to the side, "Nyx, your cousin Lexi is...blind?," asked Amy. "Was that because of...you know what?", asked Rouge. "Oh no no, that's not it at all girls. Lexi has been that way since he was born, he and I were really close when we were puppies and I've...always been a little protective of him since he can't see anything. I'm always worried he's gonna get hurt but he always assures me that I'm being silly and he can take care of himself", I said.

I can see why the girls brought me over to the side to ask this, they probably thought it'd be rude to ask openly and in front of Lexi no less so they opted for a private conversation. Just then, Charmy flew outside to greet us. "Are you almost done with the introductions? The ceremony is starting in twenty minutes", he said. I waved him off, "Oh relax Charmy, you're not the one getting married, remember? You're helping Cream toss the flower petals before I walk down the aisle, and besides, I have three special guests arriving in just a moment", I said.

As I said just that, the sound of jet engines was suddenly heard followed by the air being filled with smoke for a second and when the smoke cleared, my final guess revealed themselves to be—

"Its Orbot, Cubot and Metal Sonic!", shouted Rouge.

"Let's smash them into scrap metal!", shouted Amy.

The three robots all cowered in fear before I stepped in, "Girls stop! Don't hurt them, they're three of my groomsmen! And before you ask, Tails and I went to scope out Eggman's old base to see if any robots were lurking around; when we got there, we found Orbot and Cubot shuffling about with no real purpose and Metal Sonic in a state of disrepair.

"I asked Tails to look all three robots over and give them a tune up, he reprogrammed Metal Sonic to be good and lesson to only mine and Infinite's commands from now on, and Orbot and Cubot were never really a threat to anyone except each other so I gave them a new home and I invited them to my wedding", I said.

"Its all true! The three of us have officially turned over a new leaf", said Orbot.

"Yeah and we like living with Nyx anyway, she's so much nicer to us than Dr. Eggman ever was", said Cubot.

"My new prime directive is to serve my new masters, the two Mobians designated as Nyx Snowfall and Infinite the Jackal, and my prime directive is to use my abilities to benefit Mobians rather than harm them", said Metal Sonic.

Thankfully, Amy and Rouge cooled down. "Okay, I guess we'll let you three off the hook but I'm telling you right now: Nyx is like a sister to Rouge and I and this is the single most important day of her life, if either of you three tin cans ruin it, I'm gonna make you sorry that you ever met me!", growled Amy. "Duly noted, aggressive instruction saved to memory banks", said all three robots in fear.

Just then, we heard the church bells ringing. "Oh no, the ceremony is about to start. Nyx, go find your grandpa so he can walk you down the aisle when the music starts. We'll do some last minute checking to make sure everything is perfect", said Rouge. She, Amy and the three robots ran to another part of the church while I went to find my grandpa; my grandma was busy straightening his bowtie when I found them, "Its about that time, gramps. You know what we have to do now", I said as I picked up my bouquet.

He smiled as he held my chin, "Look at you, so beautiful. Just like your mother was the day I walked her down the aisle on her wedding, oh if only she and my son-in-law were here to see you now. They would've been so proud of you", he said. I felt like I was gonna cry but I held it in because I didn't want to make my mascara run, "I'm sure that wherever they are now, they're looking down on me with loving smiles, grandpa", I said.

Just then, we heard the wedding march began to play on a piano; my grandpa looped his left arm around my right and walked me out into the hall. We watched as Cream, Cheese and Charmy skipped along the aisle dropping red rose petals behind them; then grandpa began walking me down the aisle, I looked up to see Infinite standing at the alter wearing my dad's old blue tux, looking as handsome as always.

Grandpa let go of my arm and went to sit next to grandma when I reached the alter; Infinite and I looked at one another as the priest, a chubby middle aged owl, opened his bible and began to speak. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Nyx Snowfall and Infinite the Jackal. Never has there been a love so strong and powerful that it triumphs over the forces of evil and saves one's soul from certain demise. Before we have the rings, the bride and groom shall speak their vows to one another. The bride shall start first", he said.

I took a deep breath before I spoke, "Infinite...before I met you I was struggling to overcome the emotional turmoil that comes from losing the one you love. When I did meet you, I was...scared, I felt powerless but when I saved you from certain death, I knew there was a connection between us. I met someone who understands my feelings, someone who sympathizes with me, someone who knows what its like to be scared and sad and alone. And even in the first few moments of our friendship, I knew that I'd always want to be with you forever", I said.

Infinite smiled before he spoke, "Nyx, long ago I thought that proving I was physically superior to those around me would make me strong and that I could never be weak but I soon realized that that mindset is what truly made me weak. The thing that gave me my strength was you: your bubbly personality, your eager willingness to help others, your spirited determination, your gentle understanding...those were the things that made me stronger both inside and out. You saved me from the darkness within my own heart and I don't think I'll ever be able to find the exact words to express my gratitude. I guess if I had to say one thing, it would be...I love you Nyx and I always will", he said.

I smiled as I felt the tears come to my eyes, his vows were just too beautiful and so genuinely sweet that my heart almost couldn't take it. "The betrothed have spoken their vows of everlasting love; before we have the rings, if there are any among you who believe these two shouldn't be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your piece",said the priest.

When he was met with silence, he continued. "Very well then, the ring bearer shall now give the rings to the best man who shall in turn present them to the bride and groom", he said. Tails stepped up to give the rings to the best man, who of course was Sonic; after all he did for me back during the war, did you think I wasn't gonna make him my best man? I placed the ring on Infinite's left ring finger as he placed the other ring on mine.

"Now then, do you, Infinite, take Nyx to be your lawfully wedded wife? In sickness and in health? For better or worse? Till death do you part?", said the priest.

"I do", said Infinite.

"And do you, Nyx, take Infinite to be your lawfully wedded husband? In sickness and in health? For better or worse? Till death do you part?"

"I do", I said.

"Then by the power vested in me, in the temple of Light Gaia, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. You may now kiss the bride", said the priest. Infinite and I pulled each other into a warm embrace as our lips touched, a magically fiery sensation rushing into my chest. From around us, I could hear the sounds of our friends clapping and cheering, and my family happily howling; its something all Mobian wolves do, when one their own is getting married, the family of the betrothed man or woman howl to give their blessings of good fortune and a happy life to the new couple.

When Infinite and I finally stopped kissing, I smiled wider than I ever had before and my tail was wagging at full speed; this was the single greatest day of my life and I almost wanted it to go on for all eternity.

Author's Note: And so ends the first chapter of Light of Hope 2: New Horizons; sorry to make you guys wait so long, I promise I won't make a habit out of doing that. Anyway next chapter, we have the reception party and then Nyx and Infinite head for Spagonia on their first honeymoon and...that's where that single solitary sex scene I mentioned in the afterward of Light of Hope comes in, and that's why the story is rated M. So until next time, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	2. Chapter 2

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 2: A Spicy Honeymoon (Third Person POV)

After the wedding ceremony, Nyx and Infinite joined their guests for the big reception party; in fact, the newlyweds were currently cutting into the rather extravagant cake as their friends took several pictures. As she pulled out the slice of cake, Nyx smirked and smashed it into Infinite's face; he was stunned for a second before he too grabbed some cake and smeared it into her face.

The two laughed as they continued their little food fight, everyone taking pictures of the silly spectacle; after a while, Nyx and Infinite got cleaned up and began to actually eat some of the cake as did everyone else. Then they partook in some slow dancing as everyone sat around and chatted, "So Gadget...you were in the Resistance too, huh? What kind of work were you given?", asked Silver. "Oh, I mostly relayed information and I went on a few recon missions here and there. My cousin Jermaine was actually on the front lines, that's actually how he ended up losing his leg and getting it replaced with a robotic one", said Gadget.

Shadow walked past the two and gave Silver a rather sultry look before walking over to the dessert table, "Shadow really seems to like you", said Gadget. Silver laughed, "Like me? He loves me, he honestly can't get enough of me. We had started dating a long while after the war ended and it was just last month that we tied the knot and got married, as did Knuckles and Rouge.

"In fact the only two who haven't gotten married yet are Sonic and Amy, they only started dating a year ago and, despite Amy's constant insistence, Sonic keeps saying that marriage will soon lead to them having children and he's not sure if he's ready to settle down yet. I can't blame him, I told Shadow I'd be supportive and help him raise our adopted daughter Maria but in reality I was terrified of being a parent. But after a while, I just...accepted the responsibility and now, I can't imagine my life without Shadow or Maria. They're my everything", he said.

Silver heard sniffling and saw that Gadget was actually crying and wiping his face with a napkin, "I'm sorry, that was just too beautiful. Also I know how you feel because... I'm actually gay myself and my boyfriend and I had to split up because he got a job offer overseas and since neither of us had the time nor money to spend flying back and forth out of country and we couldn't make a long distance relationship work, we decided to end our relationship. He still sends me postcards and we communicate over the phone and social media but I still wish we could've stayed together. Now, I don't have anyone to love and...I'm quite lonely", said Gadget.

Silver pondered for a minute before he suddenly smiled, "Gadget, wait here. I'll be right back", he said. He suddenly took off and in a minutes time, he came back with a confused Espio in tow. "Gadget, this is my friend Espio the Chameleon; Espio, I'm sure you've met Nyx's cousin, Gadget the Wolf", said Silver. Espio smiled and waved politely before whispering into to Silver's ear and asking him what this was about.

"You told me before that growing up, you were often bullied for being gay, and Vector told me about your profile on that dating website and how you'd been feeling lonely recently. Well, Gadget here had a boyfriend before they had to break up because the boyfriend got a job overseas and they couldn't make a long distance relationship work. Look Espio, he's nice, smart, sweet and seems like an understanding guy; you're wise, strong, selfless, noble and you make a killer lasagna. I'm sure you two would be great together so why not give it a shot?", whispered Silver.

Espio thought about it for a minute and it was all true: he had been bullied and ostracized many times in his childhood, specifically in his teenage years, because of his homosexuality, and it wasn't until he met Vector and Charmy that he was able to "come out of the closet" without fear of ridicule, but he did long for a partner who would understand and care for him; now here's one who was all alone after reluctantly breaking up with his previous lover and seemed eager to get to know him, it didn't hurt to at least try.

"Hello Gadget, its a pleasure and an honor to meet you. I was wondering if you'd care to share a dance with me and, if you're not too busy, perhaps we could go out for dinner sometime", said Espio. Gadget blushed and smiled sheepishly, "Um...sure, that would be...lovely", he said as he stood up, took Espio by the hand and they both walked over to the dance floor.

Silver watched them with a smile, "Hmm, maybe I should become a professional matchmaker. I'd be helping people looking for love and I'd probably make a fortune off it...nah, this was a one-time thing, just to help a friend. I certainly don't want to make a business out of it", he said to himself.

Meanwhile on the dance floor, Nyx and Infinite were currently slow dancing whilst gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. "I couldn't have asked for a more perfect evening to spend with the woman I love", said Infinite. Nyx hummed as she leaned her head on his shoulder, "Yeah, it truly is wonder—! Wha...wait a minute, Infinite...what time is it?", she said.

Confused, Infinite looked down at his watch and gasped in shock. "Its 9:30! We just missed our flight to Spagonia!", he shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. "Oh no, now what do we do? There won't be another plane heading over their for another two hours and if we don't make it to the hotel in the next 45 minutes, we'll lose our reservations! And I booked us an entire weeks stay at the Honeymoon Inn three months in advance", said Nyx.

Tails walked over to the newlyweds, "Hey if you guys want, I can fly you there in the X Tornado. I've made some modifications to it recently, so it should be able to get there in about twenty minutes tops", he said. "You'd do that? Oh thank you so much Tails! Now we just need our luggage...Metal Sonic, fly back to our house and get our luggage quickly", said Nyx. Metal Sonic complied as he flew out of the building to get their bags; before they climbed into the X Tornado, Nyx turned around and threw her bouquet into the air as is done after a wedding. It sailed through the air and landed unexpectedly in Amy's hands, she looked down at the flowers and then looked at Sonic before turning away blushing.

Soon Metal Sonic came back with the luggage and loaded it onto Tails' plane. Nyx and Infinite climbed on board and that's when they noticed Metal Sonic sitting near the tail of the plane, "Metal, what are you doing there?", asked Infinite. "My prime directive is to assist and protect you and my secondary master Nyx Snowfall, as such it is only logical I accompany you on this excursion to ensure you are properly protected and assisted", he said. Nyx and Infinite couldn't really argue with that, after he was now programmed with that new directive by Tails as they had instructed, so it made sense why he'd come.

"Goodbye everyone, we'll see you all in a week or so", said Nyx. Everybody waved and shouted goodbye as the plane took off into the air towards Spagonia. "So Nyx, which hotel will be staying in again?", asked Infinite. "The Honeymoon Inn, one the most luxurious resorts for newly married couples in all of Spagonia. Its got everything: a pool, a spa, its right near a beach, a casino hall, a movie theater and I booked us an "all expenses paid" stay in advance so we don't have to pay for anything", she said. Infinite leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, "Hmm, sounds wonderful", he said.

Soon they came upon the luxurious five star resort as Tails slowly and carefully landed the X Tornado in the parking lot; Metal Sonic helped Nyx and Infinite get down before grabbing their bags, "I'll see you guys next week, if you miss your flight just call me and I'll fly you back home on the X Tornado. Bye", said Tails as he started his plane back up and flew off into the sky. Nyx and Infinite waved goodbye as they walked over to the entrance, they soon approached the maitre'd. "Hello, we have a reservation for the "Just Married Couples" suite, its under the name 'Snowfall'", said Nyx.

The maitre'd looked through the list on the clipboard he held, "Ah yes, 'Snowfall'. We have been expecting you, allow me to show you to your suite", he said in a thick Spagonian accent. He led them to the elevator and they were taken up to the tenth floor, he then used a keycard on a metal chain to open the door of the suite.

The maitre'd turned around and presented Nyx and Infinite with two of those cards attached to chains, "Since you have chosen the "all expense paid" stay, I shall give you these keycards. Not only do they your I.D.s printed on them and allow you to enter your suite, they can also be used in place off money for our resorts' features such as room service and access to the spa, pool or movie theatre. These chains allow you to wear them around your necks, so don't lose them. Enjoy your stay", he said before walking away.

Nyx went to check out the bathroom while Infinite opened the curtain to see they had an amazing view of the nearby beach as well as the town the resort was in. The room itself was everything one would see in a luxurious hotel suite: it had a queen sized bed, a flat screen T.V., a minibar containing various types of wine, a fireplace and a bathroom with a tub large enough to fit three people.

Nyx came back out to see that Infinite had taken off his tux jacket and pulled a bottle of wine out of the minibar. "Cabernet Sauvignon, 1985, a good year. I was hoping you and I could indulge ourselves in a bit of wine and something fancy off the room service menu", he said. Nyx blushed, "Well thanks, baby, but I don't really drink", she said. Infinite put down the wine bottle and went over to hug her, "Oh come now, you're old enough to drink, aren't you? And besides, we're on our first honeymoon. You can't make an exception just this once", he said.

Nyx laughed, "Okay okay, I'll have some. After all, it was beer I drank last time and not wine, maybe I'll like it. And plus, it is our honeymoon so I guess I can loosen up a bit, but I'm only having one glass of wine, okay?", she said.

~Time Lapse: Thirty five minutes later~

In a hilarious stroke of irony, Nyx actually drank more than she said would; Infinite had ordered them a dinner of sirloin steaks and lobster linguini with Alfredo sauce, and two slices of tiramisu for dessert, and by the time they were halfway done with their desserts, Nyx had already downed about seven glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon and was really out of it.

"I really shouldn't be drinking any more of this stuff... I've no head for it...", she said giddily as her face flushed red and she had a wide grin on her face. "A little wine won't kill you," Infinite said with a grin, sliding closer to the drunk she-wolf, "Get as drunk as you want. You never indulge yourself, you little prude."

Nyx laughed again, taking a long swig of the wine." Who's the prude NOW?", she said. Infinite let out a hearty laugh as he too was starting to fall under the wine's influence, "Well, I was wrong. Apparently the little heroine has a darker side", he slurred. Nyx slowly stood up from the table, walked over to the fireplace and lit a fire in it filling the room with warmth; she then walked over to the bed and began slowly stripping off her wedding dress, revealing the black lace underwear and bra she wore underneath it.

"Infinite, I've drank quite a lot...and there's a full moon out tonight...I'm feeling a bit...needy", she slurred. "Whatcha talking about, Nyx?", Infinite babbled. She slowly walked over to him and began to run her hands along his chest, staring deep into his eyes with her clouded ones.

"Infinite?"

"Yes, Nyx?" he asked, staring up at her eyes.

"I want you".

Infinite cocked an eyebrow. "How so?"

"You know how."

"You're drunk".

"I'm serious."

"Are you?"

Nyx nodded, her gaze never wavering. Infinite was silent, he seemed deep in thought, staring up into Nyx's eyes. Making up his mind, Infinite picked her up and carried her over to the bed, gently lying her on it as if she were made of glass and climbing on next to her. "Very well then...", he spoke in a low purr, "I'm **more** than willing, but are you sure about this Nyx? Or is it just the wine talking?"

Nyx nodded her head, "Yes, Infinite. I'm ready for this."

"You're certain?"

"Yes."

"Really certain?"

"Yes."

Infinite swooped down on his wife, siezing her lips with his own in a possessive, powerful kiss.

(Okay here is where the lemon starts, if you don't like reading this kind of stuff, I recommend scrolling down to the end of it and continuing on with the rest of the chapter).

The two had paused in the make-out session to remove their clothing in order to get comfortable on the bed, though for Nyx she was removing the remainder of her clothing and Infinite had to first take off his shirt, belt, pants, gloves and shoes before he was completely naked...or as naked as he was in this context since male Mobians were allowed to walk around without much clothing all the time.

Infinite kissed Nyx passionatly as he ran his hands up and down her body. Nyx returned the kiss eagerly, wrapping her arms around Infinite's broad, hard shoulders. "Nyx..." Infinite said, nibbling her neck as he worked his way down to the she-wolf's chest. Nyx growled and groaned loudly as Infinite suckled on her right nipple, nipping and licking like he'd done to her neck a second ago.

"Infinite! Uhnmm..."

Infinite smirked, moving onto the left side of the she-wolf's chest and giving her other nipple the same attention. Nyx moaned as Infinite's hands drifted down to caress her rear, tugging on her tail and squeezing the cheeks in his hot, soft hands. Nyx suddenly used all her strength to flip him over onto his back, catching him off guard.

"Nyx, what are you—"

"Finishing from where we left off that night in the woods", she growled sending chills of anticipation down Infinite's spine.

She looked down to see Infinite's member was already protruding out of its sheath, flushed a bright crimson; Nyx stared at the organ with fascination, she had only ever seen drawings of male anatomy in the biology textbooks she used in Medical School, but something about but the way the real thing looked and the smell it was currently giving off was driving her mad with lust.

Nyx reached out, wrapping her pale purple hand around the length; Infinite inhaled, letting out a slow sigh as Nyx began moving said hand up and down slowly, experimentally.

"Mmmm..."

Nyx found herself intrigued by the texture, it felt like velvet, warm, and firm. He wasn't entirely hard yet...

Nyx moved lower to the organ, her breath stirring the white hairs at the base; she licked her lips, wrapping them around the tip and sliding down, sheathing the jackal with her mouth.

Infinite hissed out, tightening his grip in Nyx's hair as he began petting her. "Nyx..."

Taking that as permission to continue, Nyx began bobbing her head up and down, swirling her tongue as she pleasured her lover. Infinite purred, closing his eyes "Oh yeah Nyx...keep it up...!" Nyx bobbed her head faster, eager to please Infinite, spurred on by his grunts and growls of pleasure. As Nyx continued her on-slot, Infinite felt a pressure slowly build up inside of him, the feeling growing stronger and stronger.

He could feel himself ready to burst until Nyx suddenly stopped, catching him off guard again. Infinite winced as he had felt so close to his climax but was denied at the last minute, "Nyx...why did you stop—"

"We'll get to the main course soon enough, right now it's time for you to sample the appetizers, but don't have too much or I'll end up spoiling dinner for you", she said with husky undertone to her words.

Infinite obliged as he rolled over until Nyx was now lying on the bed, her head leaning against the oversized pillows; Infinite crawled onto the bed beside her, and gently pushed his fingers between Nyx's thighs, spreading them apart. He planted gentle kisses along the inside of her leg, leading up to the true prize. Infinite could feel Nyx's intense heartbeat through his lips, it was even worse than his. The feverish warmth she radiated filled Infinite with lust as he pushed onwards. After what seemed like an eternity to Nyx, Infinite finally planted a kiss on her wet lips.

Nyx clutched the bedsheets tightly as Infinite worked her over. Infinite lapped at every fold he could reach, the heat coming off of Nyx was only rivaled by that of Infinite's cheeks. The mere thought of being with a girl like this had never crossed his mind before, and the fact that said girl was his wife now only made him give in to his instincts and lick her even harder than before. Nyx knew she was reaching her end but she didn't want it to come yet, so she grabbed Infinite by one of his long hairs and pulled his away from her sex.

"Well...I guess its time to stop beating around the bush huh? Lets do this already, I can't stand this pressure!", she growled.

Infinite moved closer to her so that his face was near hers and his member was aligned with her entrance, "Are you certain your ready for this?" he said testing his resolve one final time, "What I'm about to take from you can never be given back..."

Nyx bit her lip but nodded. "Yes. I'm definately ready. And besides I wouldn't let you get this far if I wasn't," she smiled warmly at her husband.

Infinite nodded and leaned forward, placing his lips against Nyx's as he began to slide in, inch by inch. Nyx flinched, giving a muffled yelp as Infinite slowly filled her stretching her tight. She bit down on her bottom lip. "O-ow!..." she whimpered. The jackal stroked the she-wolf's face gently, brushing her jaw with his knuckles. "I know, Nyx. It's okay."

"By Chaos' name, this freaking hurts...!", Nyx muttered as Infinite fully sheathed himself.

"It will get better, I promise."

Nyx's face scrunched in pain and tears forced their way from her clenched eyelids, she let out a series of pained growls and snarls. Infinite kissed the tears away as he slowly pulled out, thrusting back in gently, taking his time. Nyx's eyes shot open. The pain was still very much there, but now there was a spark of something under that pain. Pleasure? Infinite repeated the action, then again. And again. Nyx's mouth opened in a small, pleasured gasp as the new feeling began to drown out the pain. Infinite grinned, continuing the pace. At length, he sped up, increasing the speed and strength of his movements.

"In-Infinite!"

Infinite groaned as he thrusted harder and faster into Nyx's hot, tight body, "Oh Sweet Chaos, Nyx!" he growled, reach down and began pumping Nyx's breasts in time with his thrusts. Nyx wrapped her arms tight around Infinite, trying desperatly to hold on to reality as blind, raw pleasure filled her body and mind. Nothing existed in this moment except Infinite and herself. She arched into Infinite's hips and grip as she felt herself getting closer to release.

"Uhgnnn!" she mewled, "Infinite... I'm gonna-"

Infinite claimed his lover's mouth, kissing her passionatly and cutting her off, "Not yet...", he said, caressing Nyx's breasts softly, a deep contrast to the vigerous thrusting his hips were doing.

"Infinite..." she whined, "Please...!"

Infinite groaned. He'd wanted this to draw this out a bit longer, especially since he was denied his chance to climax a moment ago.

"Nyx..."

"Please...I-I n-need it!"

"Alright then...", he said. He began thrusting in hard, pounding the bundle of nerves at just the right angle.

Once...twice...again...

"ARR-WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Nyx let out a loud thunderous howl as her fully extended nails dug into the jackal's back, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. Infinite bit down on Nyx's shoulder as he too hit his release. Niether of them moved as they panted, coming down from their union, sweat coated their bodies. Nyx sagged and laid bonelessly against Infinite, her heart racing. She felt light, like she was floating on air. She was brought back to reality by a stinging sensation as Infinite pulled out of her.

(Here is where the lemon ends, scroll down to this spot if you didn't want to read it).

Nyx and Infinite laid next to each other on the bed as they tried to regain their senses but both of them were so drained that they could pass out at any moment, "That...was...amazing", muttered Infinite. Nyx rolled over until she was right next to him, her arms wrapped around his torso and her buried in the crook of his neck, "Yeah...it really...was...", she trailed off as her eyes slowly closed and she fell fast asleep. Infinite didn't last too long either as he too shut his and drifted off to the dream realm.

About three and a half minutes later, Metal Sonic came into the room; he was told by Nyx and Infinite not to disturb them as they had come to the resort to enjoy their night together as newlyweds and he obliged, choosing to stand directly outside the room door to guard them from intruders. He had started hearing the grunts and groans and moaning and howling but refused to go in to see what was going on because he was told not to disturb their peace.

When Metal Sonic heard Nyx's boisterous howl of pleasure, he reasoned that he'd wait just a few minutes before seeing what was happening. So now he was in the room and he gazed upon Nyx and Infinite asleep in each other's embrace, "Scanning...heart rate is slightly elevated but now returning to steady rhythm, breathing rate slowly returning to normal speed. I am detecting high concentrations of male and female canid Mobian pheromones in the air, and their perspiration levels is at 78.89%", he said.

Metal Sonic calculated all the data he gathered as he reached down and pulled the heavy quilt over the couple's sweaty bodies, "Scan complete: the loud sounds were coming from masters Nyx Snowfall and Infinite the Jackal as their bodies were reacting to positive stimulation during a session of mating. My masters now appear to be physically exhausted and are currently resting in order to replenish their energy levels, I shall continue to serve my prime directive and resume my task of guarding the entrance of their living quarters so no one is to disturb them", he said as he walked back outside. The sleeping pair were completely unaware that their new little assistant had entered their room and scanned them before stating, in what was really a long and overly technical way of saying, they just had intercourse for the first time.

Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 2 and to all who are wondering, this is the only time in this story I will write a chapter like this so don't expect another one in the near future. Next Chapter, its a week later and Nyx and Infinite go back home to fall into the routine of working class citizens but Nyx begins to notice she's acting very strange. What could this mean? Find out next time in Chapter 3; until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	3. Chapter 3

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 3: Weird Behavior (Third Person POV)

Nyx let out a loud and grouchy groan as she woke up the next morning, she even snarled and growled at little at the piercing headache she had. "Owww...my head...what happened? Ugh I'm so thirsty...", she moaned. Suddenly a glass of water came into her line of vision, she looked up to see that it was Metal Sonic holding it out to her. "Oh um thanks", she mumbled.

"You are welcome, Master Unit Alpha. Your hydration level was low so it seemed logical to bring you a glass of dihydrogen monoxide. If you are inquiring about the whereabouts of Master Unit Beta, he has stepped out for the moment", replied Metal Sonic.

Nyx knew Metal Sonic was referring to Infinite so she just shrugged and accepted the water, guzzling it down in one gulp. "Well that cures my life thirst, but now I'm super hungry!", she grumbled. Metal Sonic walked over to the table and picked up the room service menu, "Would you like me to inform the room service to bring you up a meal?", he asked.

Nyx's stomach growled at the thought of food, so she wrote down what she wanted on a piece of paper and handed to Metal Sonic. "Here's what I want, Metal. Make sure they know exactly how I want it, its all expense paid so it had better be the way I want it", she said.

Metal Sonic dialed the number for the room service and waited for the phone to pick up, "Hello room service, how may we help you?", said a woman on the other end. "I am calling from Room 10G, the current hotel guest, and my master, Nyx Snowfall has instructed me to inform you that she requires a morning meal. She would like a platter of sunny side-up eggs, bacon, sausage, ham and a 7 ounce sirloin steak, well-done and don't skip on the gravy. Oh and she requires a pitcher of orange juice as well", said Metal Sonic.

"Oh my, that's quite the breakfast but worry not, we'll have it up there in about ten minutes or so", said the woman. It was exactly ten minutes before room service knocked on the door and Metal opened it to let the maid wheel in the cart that held Nyx's extravagant breakfast. "Hey ma'am, did you by any chance see my husband on the way up here? He's got jet black fur and long white hair", said Nyx. "Oh yes, he's at the indoor pool taking a swim. It is a good form of exercise, especially in the morning. Well I'll just leave your food there, call if you need anything else", said the maid.

She wheeled the now empty cart back towards the door, stopping only for a second to glance at Metal Sonic. "Oh, what an adorable little robot you have. Let us know if he needs anything as well, we do have containers of oil we use for powering the heating system", she said as she left. "Did you hear that, Metal? She said you were adorable", said Nyx with a smirk. "Compliment registered, initiate bashful mode", said Metal Sonic as his metallic muzzle turned bright red to signify he was blushing.

Nyx laughed, in addition to reprogramming him with the directive of being a good robot, Tails had also given Metal Sonic a program to simulate emotions; Nyx asked him to do so because she didn't think it was fair that Metal still just acted like a cold unfeeling machine while Orbot and Cubot had their own unique personalities, despite it being quite clear how dimwitted they were.

So now Metal Sonic had the ability to register and simulate emotions, such as now when he felt bashful towards the compliment the maid gave him, his internal heating system activated in his muzzle causing it to turn red to simulate blushing.

Nyx sat at the table and began to gorge herself on the large and rather meat-centric breakfast she ordered, though she didn't use any utensils and just opted to eating with her hands and she also ate the food in a ravenous manner as if she was starving. "Shouldn't you be utilizing the utensils? Were they not created for the purpose of using them as tools to consume meals?", asked Metal Sonic. Nyx looked up from where she was tearing into her steak and growled at him, "When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it! Until then, shut your voice box Metal and let me eat in peace!", she said in an almost angry tone.

Metal Sonic was taken aback by his new master's sudden mood shift; he hadn't known her too long but he knew her enough to know she was kind and polite Mobian, a stark contrast from Dr. Eggman but this sudden unwarranted aggression from her was very off putting.

Just as Nyx finished her breakfast, she looked up and saw that Metal Sonic's eyes had shifted to form pixelated sad eyes; suddenly, she ran towards him and engulfed him in a tight hug, crying hysterically. "Oh my gosh Metal, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean...I just...", she trailed off when Metal placed his metallic finger over her lips. "Apology not required. It was my error to interrupt you while eating, thus I am the one who should be apologizing", he said.

Nyx took him by surprise again when she out of nowhere stopped crying and adopted a wide smile on her face, "Oh okay! Glad to know we're still friends! Anyway, if Infinite comes in, tell him I'm in the shower", she said as she went into the bathroom. Just then, Infinite walked in through the door wearing a pair of green swim trunks, a towel around his neck and drinking a bottle of apple juice. "Master Unit Beta, I believe there is something wrong with Master Unit Alpha. She just recently exhibited radical shifts in mood and tone, should we be concerned?", said Metal Sonic.

Infinite laughed, "Oh Metal, you've got a lot to learn about how organic lifeforms function. There's nothing wrong with Nyx, that's just how women behave sometimes. It's perfectly normal and so, no you shouldn't be concerned", he said. Metal Sonic was still a bit skeptical, as a machine capable of intelligence far beyond that of an organic lifeform, he refused to believe it was normal behavior but as a robot programmed to obey the word of its master, he chose not to question Infinite further.

"Very well. Master Unit Alpha also wished for me to inform you upon your return that she is currently in the lavatory", said Metal. Infinite walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on it twice, "Hey Nyx, when you're done, I was thinking we could go to the theater and see a movie. There were several that caught my eyes but I wanna you what you want to watch", he said. The bathroom door then opened to reveal Nyx wearing a pink bathrobe and a sultry look on her face; she giggled as she grabbed Infinite by the arm and dragged him into the bathroom, the door slamming shut behind him.

This caught Metal Sonic by surprise as he stood near a power outlet recharging his battery supply; from where he stood he could hear rather intimate sounds coming from the bathroom, which included growls, snarls and soft howling. After forty five minutes, Infinite walked out of the bathroom with his long hair a mess and his swim trunks on backwards. "I shall not inquire about what went on in the lavatory between you and Master Unit Alpha, I heard everything with my audio sensors", he said.

Infinite shrugged it off as he went about combing his hair and changing into some dry and less smelly clothes; during his "fun time" in the bathroom with Nyx, she told him which movie she wanted to watch: a sci-fi romance film called "Interstellar Heartbreak", it was about two alien friends who travel the cosmos in search of a cure to a disease that's rapidly killing their people while slowly discovering their feelings for one another.

Nyx walked out of the bathroom, this time wearing a red halter top, jean shorts and red flip flops; it was late spring in Spagonia, which was known for its tropical weather, so she was dressed appropriately.

They left the room and went over to the resort's movie theater; they made a quick stop by the concession stand where Nyx acquired herself an extra large funnel cake topped with vanilla ice cream and a raspberry slushy while Infinite, weirded out by that, just settled for a hotdog and a diet soda. _She sure is eating quite a lot...I hope she's careful and doesn't start getting fat_ , thought Infinite as they walked into the theater.

The movie started and it seemed like a rather rousing adventure filled with drama and mystery but halfway through the movie, Nyx stood up claiming she had to use the bathroom; the last thirty minutes of the film played out as Infinite soon realized that Nyx was in the bathroom for quite longer than anyone reasonably would be. He walked over to the ladies room after the movie ended and asked a female raccoon who had just stepped out if she had seen Nyx.

The raccoon said that she had seen the purple wolf girl in the bathroom but she left twenty minutes ago; Infinite went back upstairs to their room to find Nyx fast asleep on their bed, it confused him as to why she was acting this way. Infinite didn't want it to bother him too much, especially since they just got married and it was far too soon for them to start arguing with each other, but Nyx's behavior was now confusing on top of being annoying.

And this continued to happen for the entire week.

Yes, for the rest of the week they were at the resort, all Nyx did was either sleep, eat large quantities of food, mostly meat and pastries, and pull Infinite into another session of intimacy; that last one he wasn't all too bothered by as he had never experienced it prior to now but Infinite was bothered by the constant sleeping and meat/sweets eating, he didn't understand why Nyx suddenly started doing this.

And it didn't stop there, Nyx was also experiencing total whiplash of the mood; sometimes when she and Infinite sat on the bed and watched TV, he'd move closer to her so they'd cuddle but she'd drive him off by growling angrily and threatening to hurt him. Other times when they'd sit there and Infinite didn't try to cuddle, Nyx would go into a deep crying fit asking him why he was so far away from her, despite only being about six inches away, and so he'd cuddle her which made her stop crying almost instantaneously.

And other times, Nyx had turned into quite the minx; every so often when she had the chance, she'd drag Infinite into another round of vigorous love making, which always left him drained afterwards; every time Infinite laid down to get a minute of sleep, Nyx would climb on top of him and have her way with him. At this point, Infinite was beyond disturbed by this and was silently praying the week would end soon so he could get some alone time from Nyx long enough to figure out what was going on.

Soon the week was over and the couple and their robot companion had packed up and were ready to go back home. Infinite had called Tails and asked for a ride home in the X Tornado as he didn't think he could last two hours sitting on an actual plane with Nyx acting the way she was. Thankfully she just slept quietly on the ride back and even continued to sleep when they went back to the house.

Orbot and Cubot, who had been house sitting, were playing cards when they noticed the two walk in along with their robotic brother. "Oh look, they're back", said Orbot. "How was your trip? Did you take lots of pictures?", asked Cubot. Nyx ignored both of them and went upstairs to sleep, Metal Sonic sat on the couch behind his two robot brothers and Infinite went over to the phone to make a call.

"Hello? Yes its me, Nyx and I just got back this morning. Can you do me a favor? Do you think you and Rouge could meet me in town in a few minutes? I need to talk to you about Nyx, something is going on with her and you two are the only ones I can think of who might know what to do. Okay thanks, bye", he said before hanging up the phone. The person he just finished talking to was Amy, Infinite realized if he wanted answers to his wife's odd behavior, he'd need to ask her two female friends, whom she loved like sisters, for help.

He then turned to the three robots, "I'm going into town for a bit, I'll be back in a little while. Keep an eye on Nyx and get her whatever she needs", he said before leaving. Five minutes later, Infinite met up with Amy and Rouge outside this cafe that they and Nyx liked to hang out in, "So...what's up with Nyx? You two have marital issues already?", said Rouge.

"What? No of course we aren't, its just...during our stay at the resort everything seemed fine. On the first night, Nyx and I ordered room service, had some wine, a bit too much I might add, and...we made love for the first time. But the day after that and for the rest of the week, she's been acting different: she's been sleeping an awful lot, been consuming large amounts of meat and sweets, having these strange out-of-nowhere mood shifts and has been very lusty towards me.

"I asked you two here because, other than Sonic, you two are her best friends and I figured this was a woman issue so I'd get help from the only two women I know personally. Tell me what's wrong with Nyx, is she sick? Is she dying? Please tell me it isn't the latter, I've started my new life with her, I don't I have the strength to lose her now", said Infinite in a sad tone of voice.

He was then caught off guard when Amy and Rouge started laughing their heads off, "I'm sorry...was there something funny about what I just said?", asked Infinite as he was beginning to get angry. The girls calmed down before looking at him like he was stupid, "No Infinite, we're laughing because you can't see the obvious thing that's going on here", said Amy with a smile. Now Infinite was confused, "I don't understand... what do you mean?", he asked.

Rouge leaned forward and placed her hand on his, "Infinite, isn't it obvious? The constant sleeping, the meat/sweet eating, the mood shifts, the constant lusting after you...Nyx isn't sick or dying, she's pregnant", she said.

Author's Note: Whelp, there's a bombshell that's been dropped. Sorry about the delay, I promise I won't make a habit out f this. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter, stay tuned for Chapter 4; until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	4. Chapter 4

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 4: The Big News

 _Previously on Light of Hope 2..._

 _Rouge leaned forward and placed her hand on his, "Infinite, isn't it obvious? The constant sleeping, the meat/sweet eating, the mood shifts, the constant lusting after you...Nyx isn't sick or dying, she's pregnant", she said._

 _And now..._

When Infinite heard what Rouge said...he fainted and collapsed onto the floor. "He collapsed! You were too overwhelming, Rouge!", said Amy. Rouge let out a small laugh, "I expected this to happen. I mean it happened to Knuckles", she said before she realized exactly what she had said. Amy gasped and Rouge slapped her forehead, "Ah great, looks like my secret is out", she said before she picked up her bottle of water and dumped it contents on Infinite's face.

He gasped and cried out as the sudden rush of cold water shocked him awake, "What the Hell was that for?!", he shouted as he coughed. Rouge smirked, "You fainted when I told you that your wife is pregnant", she said. Infinite looked at her with an incredulous expression which prompted her to start laughing again, "I bet you're wondering how I know exactly, well I know because..."

Rouge trailed off as she lifted the hem of her red sweater, which the others were only just now questioning why she was wearing it on a warm and sunny day, to reveal her swollen and distended abdomen.

Infinite gasped in shock and Amy let out a happy squeal as she gave a Rouge a hug from the side, "You're pregnant as well?!", said Infinite. "Yup, I'm five months along. One more month and I'll be a mother, it was actually supposed to be a surprise because Knuckles and I are throwing a baby shower and that was when we planned on telling the others about it but I guess you two know now", she said.

"So you knew Nyx was pregnant because you are pregnant too?", asked Infinite. Rouge smiled sheepishly, "Well not exactly, I knew because the behavior you described her having sounded very similar to how I was behaving a few months ago. You see, not all female Mobians go through the same thing when they're pregnant, we all behave differently depending on our species. For wolves like Nyx, they become moody and lust-crazed and develop serious cravings for meat and anything sweet.

"For bats like me, we whine and complain and moan endlessly which isn't much fun for our partners. Trust me when I say that Knuckles was at his wits end before I took a test and found out I was pregnant, but when I told him he nearly fell over the edge of Angel Island due to him jumping up and down in joy. In fact, maybe Nyx and I can have a baby shower together since we're the only ones expecting, unless Amy is also carrying a bun in the oven", said Rouge.

Amy smiled sheepishly, "No I'm not, Sonic and I just got engaged a week ago. He finally decided that he wants to settle down and have a family but only after we're married first", she said. "So what now?", asked Infinite. "Well, I'm gonna go home and start getting things together. I'm throwing my shower tomorrow and I want to invite the others without telling them what's going on. What you can do Infinite is take Nyx to the doctor so you can see your baby, Mobian wolves are only pregnant for three months and after spending a week of getting freaky with you, I'm sure it's already looking like a real baby", said Rouge.

Infinite nodded as he said goodbye to the girls before heading home, when he got inside he found Nyx sitting at the table eating about ten corndogs. "Oh hi baby, where'd you go?", she asked. Infinite smiled as he walked over to her, "Nyx...I was thinking we should go pay a visit to the doctor. It's nothing serious but we were out of the country for a week and I just wanna make sure neither of us caught anything", he said.

Infinite didn't want to lie to Nyx, but he didn't want her to know why he suggested seeing the doctor...at least not yet. Not until he actually made sure she really was pregnant; its not that he didn't believe Rouge when she said Nyx was pregnant, he just didn't want to get his hopes up on the off chance she was wrong.

The two of them walked to the hospital where Infinite secretly asked the doctor, a male dog named Reiner, to give Nyx an ultrasound examination. Without her knowing fully what was going on, Dr. Reiner told Nyx to lie down on a bed while he turned on the ultrasound machine; Nyx tensed up as she felt that cold gel being squirted onto her stomach, then Dr. Reiner began rubbing the scanner across it.

Nyx was confused, "Infinite, what is going on? I'm actually a doctor myself and I know for sure this isn't how you check for foreign pathogens", she said. Infinite laughed as he pointed to the machine's monitor, Nyx followed his gaze and let out a small gasp at what she saw. On the screen, it showed a black and white image of a small fetus; despite being small, it was still very visible: it had two arms, two legs, hands and feet, and even a long tail.

"Infinite...is...is that a...?", Nyx was speechless as she had no idea how to react to seeing what was on screen. "Yes my love, that's our child. Soon we're going to be parents", said Infinite. Nyx began crying out of joy as she hugged her husband, she couldn't have been any happier than she was at that moment. "Ah yes and from what I can see, the baby is looking nice and healthy. It has a pretty strong heartbeat as well. Do you want to know if you're having a boy or a girl?", said Dr. Reiner.

"No wait, I want you to write it down and put it in an envelope. Rouge is having a baby shower tomorrow because she's pregnant as well and she wants to share it us since we're expecting too. I want to do that thing where people get a cake and the filling matches the baby's gender, with pink for girls and blue for boys. I want to do that, so it'd be a surprise to us and everyone else", said Infinite. Nyx nodded in agreement as she also wanted to be surprised by what gender her baby was.

Dr. Reiner wrote down the baby's gender on a sheet of paper and slipped it into an envelope and gave it Nyx and Infinite, the two of them thanked him and left the hospital to go find a bakery to get a gender reveal cake for the baby shower.

The next day, everyone was gathered together on Angel Island for the big double baby shower. Actually the others were told to meet up for a birthday party, so they actually had no idea they were attending a duo baby shower or why the presents they brought mostly consisted of baby stuff like toys, strollers, and baby clothes. After they found out, however, they couldn't have been happier for Rouge and Nyx; speaking of the two expectant mothers, they were sitting off to one side discussing baby names.

"I was thinking of naming my baby Ruby-Emerald if its a girl, what do you think Nyx?", said Rouge.

"Wait, the baby's name is hyphenated?", asked Nyx.

"Yeah, said out loud the name would be Ruby-Emerald the Echidna-bat or if its a boy, I was thinking Emerald-Jasper. What names did you pick?", said Rouge.

"Oh, I'm not sure. If fact, this is all so overwhelming for me Rouge. I mean, in just three months I'm gonna be a mother; I don't want to admit this but...I'm really scared! I know that sounds stupid coming from someone whose fought in a war, but parenthood is just as, if not, scarier than fighting a war. What if I mess up? What if I can't provide for my child? What if I'm a terrible mother, so bad that my child will hate me?", said Nyx.

She was slightly panicking as tears started falling from her eyes, Rouge walked around the table and gave her a big hug. "Oh its okay, hun. I told you that you were like a sister to me and that means I'll be here to help you with whatever you need. And don't forget you have a husband now too, you're carrying his child and he's proven how much he loves you so he'll be there for you too. Never forget you're not alone", she said.

Nyx smiled as she hugged Rouge back even though it was a bit different due to her distended abdomen, "Oh thank you Rouge! You really are like the big sister I always wished I had, and that's why you'll always have a special place in my heart. And hey look at it this way, when our kids are born, we can schedule play dates for them. I'm sure they'll become fast friends", she said.

The two expectant mothers let out a laugh before they're attention was drawn to Amy who came running towards them, "Hey you two, its time for you to cut into your cakes and see what you're having! Everyone's waiting over by the snack table", she said.

Nyx and Rouge walked over to the table where everyone waited in suspense, "Rouge, you should go first", said Nyx. "Nah-huh sweetie, you go first. Mine is due next month, you've still got a long way to go before your baby's here so you should see what it is first. I can wait", said Rouge.

With that said, Nyx nervously picked up the cake cutter and sliced a triangular piece of her cake; everyone, Infinite especially, watched with bated breath as she slowly pulled the slice out to reveal...light blue filling!

Nyx let out a happy squeal, "Ahhh! Infinite, we're having a boy!", she shrieked in joy. Infinite smiled as widely as his facial muscles would allow before he started bouncing around like a kid on a sugar high, screaming "yes" over and over.

"Okay you two, calm down. Its my turn, lets see what I'm having now", said Rouge. She picked up the slicer and cut into her own cake and then slowly pulled out a slice to reveal...bright pink filling!

"A girl? Yes, Knuckles we're having a girl!", said Rouge. Knuckles couldn't contain himself and rushed over to Rouge, scooping her up into his arms and spinning her around, planting loving kisses on her face.

"Ha! I was right, she is having a girl! You two owe me ten bucks each!", said Charmy to Vector and Espio. The three of them had made a bet earlier about what Rouge was going to have with Vector and Espio thinking it'd be a boy and Charmy thinking it'd be a girl, and the loser had to give the winner ten dollars. Charmy won the bet so now he had twenty bucks in his little pockets.

Sonic then stepped towards both of the expectant mothers, "Well I have to say that I'm really happy for both of you girls, and if either of you are looking to name someone as either of your baby's godfather, I'm open", he said.

This prompted everyone to laugh at his little joke before the moment was interrupted by the sound of a short cry of pain. The noise had come from Rouge who held a hand to her stomach, her eyes clenched closed and her teeth gritted.

"Rouge, are you okay?", Knuckles asked in concern. Rouge looked at him with a lopsided smile, "Yeah, I'm okay. It was a little jolt of pain, no need to get worri—ahhhhhhhh!", Rouge was cut off by her own scream of pain. Suddenly there was a loud popping sound and the lower part of the blue jeans she wore became darken by a thick fluid. "Holy Chaos! Rouge, your...your water just broke!", said Shadow.

Rouge looked down at her soiled pants before she looked at Knuckles, who looked back at her with equal amounts of shock and fear. They along with everyone else knew exactly what was happening and what this meant.

Rouge's baby was coming...one month early!

Author's Note: That ends Chapter 4 and wow, was that an intense way to end it! Rouge is having her baby a month earlier than she was supposed to; what will happen next? What will Knuckles and Rouge's baby look like? What will she be like? In fact, let me know in your reviews what you think their baby will look like; I mean I've already made fanart of what she looks like but I wanna hear what you think and see if you're close to my designs. Until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	5. Chapter 5

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

(Side note: I decided to make this story in the third person perspective because it follows the point of view of all the characters whereas 'Light of Hope' was from the point of view of Nyx and Infinite. Thank you).

Chapter 5: Birth of a Future Guardian

Everyone was in a tizzy after finding out that Rouge's water had just broke and was now going to have her baby a whole month earlier than she was supposed to, but none more so than Knuckles because he was currently having a panic attack.

"The baby! What, now? The baby's coming! Did you guys hear that? Cause sometimes I imagine it in my head, but..." he trailed off as his panic attack was getting worse. Having had enough of this and knowing his best friend didn't need this right now, Shadow grabbed a glass of water and threw it into Knuckles' face, effectively shutting him up. "Ugh, thanks for that Shadow. I really needed that", said Knuckles.

"Your welcome. Now that we're all calmed down, we need to get Rouge to the hospital quickly", said Shadow.

"Good thinking, I'll go rev up the X Tornado and—"

"There's no time for that! Knuckles get Rouge onto my back and then grab onto my wrist", Shadow said cutting Tails off. Knuckles complied as he carefully lifted Rouge onto Shadow's back before grabbing onto his wrist; Shadow then pulled out his green Chaos Emerald, "Chaos Control!", he said as he and the expectant parents teleported away leaving an entire party of friends confused as to what to do.

"I guess we'll have to find our own way to the hospital. Hey Tails, do you have enough extra room in the X Tornado?", said Sonic.

Meanwhile, Shadow, Knuckles and Rouge reappeared inside the hospital effectively scaring the ever-loving crap out of the hospital personnel and patients. "Someone help us! My wife's is labor, the baby's coming!", shouted Knuckles. "What?! But it's only been five months, there's no way the child is ready to come out yet", said Dr. Reiner. "Well, this is the spawn of Knuckles we're talking about. One can only assume she inherited her impatience from her father", said Shadow with a smirk.

Knuckles was too concerned about Rouge to be even slightly annoyed by what he said. "Nurses, help me get Mrs. Bat to the delivery room!", shouted Dr. Reiner. Four of the nurses helped Rouge onto a gurney and began wheeling her to the delivery room with Knuckles following close behind; Shadow stayed behind in the waiting room as he knew only the father was allowed in the delivery room.

As he stood there, Shadow bumped into a familiar face. "Hello there, Mr. Shadow", said a small young voice. Shadow turned around to see it was Cream who had spoken to him, he smiled at the young rabbit. "Hello Cream, its nice to see you again. You look a little taller than the last time I saw you", he said. Cream smiled, "Yeah, I'm nine years old now. My mama says I'm a big girl now", she said. Shadow smiled and patted her on the head, "Yes you certainly are a big girl now. Why are you here in the hospital anyway?", he said.

"My mama brought me here for my dentist appointment. Why are you here, Mr. Shadow?", asked Cream. "I had to bring Rouge here because she's having her baby today, she's in the delivery room right now with Knuckles", said Shadow. Cream smiled when she heard the good news, then she heard her mother calling out to her for her dentist appointment.

Shadow went to sit in the waiting room just as the others arrived, he had informed them that Rouge was taken to the delivery room with Knuckles. "Oh this is so exciting! Rouge is finally having her baby! I can't wait", said Amy. "I'm just surprised that she's having her baby earlier than she was supposed to. I hope she's okay", said Sonic.

That's when they all heard a loud, ear piercing screech cut through the air...and screeching is the sound bats are known to make.

"Or I could be wrong!", said Sonic. "Are they helping her have a baby or are they torturing her in there?!", shouted Amy. Nyx hugged Infinite tightly as she was very scared, not just for Rouge's well-being as well as her baby's but also because she knew that in three months time it would be her screaming in pain in that delivery room; in fact, she was so scared that started crying. Infinite held onto her and comforted her as they all waited for this terrifying ordeal to be over.

Finally, Dr. Reiner walked out of the delivery room. The others suddenly rushed him, all of them desperately wanting to know if Rouge was okay or if she was even still alive. "Everyone please calm down, Mrs. Bat is going to be just fine. We tried to deliver the baby by normal means but it was too dangerous so we had to perform a C-section, but both mother and child are perfectly safe and healthy", said Dr. Reiner. The others all breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the good news.

Meanwhile in the recovery room, Rouge laid fast asleep in a hospital bed; the torturous amount of pain she went through took a lot out of her and she passed out almost immediately after her baby came out of her. She laid on the bed while Knuckles sat in a large armchair next to her, waiting for the nurses to finish cleaning up his daughter so he could see her.

Just then the nurse, a female canary, quietly walked into the room holding a small bundle wrapped in a pink blanket; she slowly approached Knuckles and gave him the small bundle so he could see what his child looked like, and he was utterly shocked by what he saw.

His daughter looked just like him, and not just a few facial features, she looked like a miniature echidna with soft pink fur and a peachy muzzle. She had the same bony spikes on her hands that Knuckles had and she his zigzag tail; one could've been mistaken for thinking she was a purebred echidna if it wasn't for the three foot long, jet black wings that sprouted from her back.

Knuckles looked at his daughter in awe before he smiled softly and gently pressed his forehead to hers, tears of joy pricking the corner of his eyes. But he wasn't only crying because he was now a father, he was crying because he was no longer the last of his kind; granted, his daughter was only half echidna but Knuckles didn't are, to him half was better than not at all and after years of living with the emotional pain of being the last of his kind after his clan was wiped out, it brought him great happiness to have another echidna in his life.

And this particular echidna was his own daughter.

A tiny whimper caught his attention, he opened his eyes to see his daughter slowly opening hers, revealing her to have Rouge's teal colored eyes. "Hello there, I'm your daddy. Its nice to finally meet you little one", he said. Just then, Dr. Reiner walked into the room with an unreadable expression on his face; this made Knuckles tense up, "What is it? What's wrong?! Is there something wrong with my baby?!", he whispered/shouted.

Dr. Reiner put his hands up in front of him, "Calm down, Mr. Echidna. There's nothing wrong with her, though I wouldn't exactly call your baby a 'her'", he said. Knuckles was now confused, "What do you mean by that?", he asked. "Mr. Echidna, I don't know how to say this without it alarming you, so I'll say it as delicately as I can: Ruby-Emerald was born with both male and female reproductive organs", said Dr. Reiner.

Knuckles was taken aback by this, "Are...are you saying my daughter is a...a hermaphrodite?", he asked. "Well yes and no, you see she has both male and female genitalia but not entirely: she has a fully formed uterus with ovaries and a vagina, but she also has a fully developed penis; what she doesn't have is testicles or a prostate gland.

"I'm telling you this because there's a procedure we can perform to remove the penis, this won't in any affect her in the long run, but I'm asking because in this situation we present the parents with two options: they can either choose to remove the extra organs or they can wait until their child is older and let them choose what gender they want to be identified by. So what is your decision?", said Dr. Reiner. Knuckles sat there in silence as he didn't know what to think or say about this.

"We'll let her choose".

Knuckles turned around to see that Rouge had woken up, "Rouge, you're awake! How do you feel?", asked Knuckles. "A little sore and a bit groggy but I'll manage. Anyway, I heard the whole conversation and my decision is to let our daughter choose when she's older. As a kid, I grew up with a mom who didn't want me and never expected much out of me, that's kinda part of the reason I became a jewel thief.

"Then after I started helping the others save the world every so often, joined G.U.N and even married Knuckles, I realized that I could whoever I want and I won't let anything hold me back. I wanna give my daughter that same chance as well, so when she's old enough to fully understand, we'll let her choose what she wants to be. And whether she chooses to be a boy or a girl, we'll still love her either way, right Knuckles?", said Rouge.

Knuckles stood in awe by what she said before he smiled softly and went to give her a kiss on the lips; a squeak drew both their attention and they looked down to see their daughter giving them a pouty expression, they both laughed. "Oh don't be jealous sweetie, you get kisses too", said Rouge as she and Knuckles peppered her tiny cheeks with gentle kisses. Another nurse soon came into the room, "I apologize but I have to take Ruby-Emerald to the NICU right now, just to make sure she's taken care of while you recover", she said.

As reluctant as both of them were to part with their baby, Knuckles and Rouge gave her over to the nurse, but they weren't the only ones who were hesitant; little Ruby-Emerald started whimpering and pawing at the air in the direction of her parents, when she first opened her eyes and saw Knuckles, she immediately imprinted on him. Then she caught her first whiff of his scent, she knew he was her father; then when she came in contact with Rouge, she knew she was her mother.

And now she was being separated from them and needless to say she wasn't happy because she soon began crying loudly, it broke her parents' heart to hear her crying out for them but they knew it was for the best.

Later, the others were gathered by the glass window of the NICU, peering in at all the babies trying to see which one was Rouge's. Amy had her face plastered to the window in her excitement to see the new baby, "Which one is it? Which is it? Is that one? Or that one? No, is it this one? Ooh, I can't take the suspense!", she said.

Just then a nurse came up to the group, "Are you looking for the daughter of Mr. Echidna and Mrs. Bat, she's in the cradle in the third row to the far left", she said. Everyone looked in the direction she pointed in and saw the little echidna/bat hybrid, "Awwwww, she's so cute!", said Amy and Nyx. Sonic looked at the baby with awe, "She...she looks just like Knux! It's almost like they could be twins, if it wasn't for the pink fur and bat wings", he said.

That's when Knuckles walked over and joined them by the window to see his daughter again, the tiny baby smiled widely and giggled as she saw her father looking at her through the glass. Sonic walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, "Congrats Knux, I'm real proud of ya buddy", he said. Sonic then felt his shoulder quiver under his hand, and he looked up to see that Knuckles had his forehead pressed against the glass, looking down at his giggling baby girl with a river of tears flowing from his eyes.

"I'm not...I'm not the last one anymore... I'm no longer the...last of my kind", Knuckles murmured as he sobbed openly. Sonic gave him a sympathetic smile before he pulled him into an embrace, he knew all too well how Knuckles felt about being the last echidna ever since Knuckles explained to him what happened to his tribe on the day they first met, and he had always felt sorry for him.

Its actually surprised him how emotional Knuckles was being since he never openly expressed his sorrow over losing his family and tribe, but it seemed that being blessed with a half echidna daughter had finally made him open up in front of his friends; he was finally able to release all that pent up sadness at once and now, all he felt was unbridled joy.

"Its okay, Knux. Just let it all out, we're here for ya pal", said Sonic as he held the crying echidna. They were soon joined by Tails and then Nyx who also joined in to hug Knuckles and give him some comfort; Tails had also felt sorry for him when he was told about the loss of his tribe on the day they met, and Nyx knew what it was like to lose family.

From inside the NICU, little Ruby-Emerald watched the scene with innocent curiosity as she was born no less than an hour ago and wasn't intelligent enough yet to understand what was going on. She simply laid in her cradle and pulled her zigzagged tail in between her legs, gently nibbling on the tip with her toothless gums as she watched her father being comforted by his friends.

Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 5, everyone welcome Ruby-Emerald the Echidna-bat to the world. Next time, we'll see how Knuckles and Rouge handle parenthood while also seeing how Nyx is doing during her pregnancy before we meet her child. Until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	6. Chapter 6

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 6: Adventures in Parenthood/Expectant Parenthood

As happy as they were to have their new baby girl, Knuckles and Rouge really had their work cut out for them; is was fine the first two weeks because Rouge was stuck in the hospital recovering, so the nurses did most of the work while all she had to do was breastfeed Ruby-Emerald. But that didn't last because soon she was back on her feet and was able to leave the hospital with her baby.

Actually when I said that both Knuckles and Rouge had their work cut out for them, that was a lie; since Rouge was fully healed, she was now off of maternity leave and had to return to work at G.U.N, and since Knuckles was back to guarding the Master Emerald, it was only him that had to do the parenting work. He had to take up the mantle of stay-at-home parent since the one job he had required him to stay home to guard the Master Emerald.

And lets just say, the Master Emerald was less of a hassle to take care of than Ruby-Emerald.

"WAAAAAHHHHH!"

Knuckles rushed down the steps of the Master Emerald's alter to a small hut about two feet away from it, the inside only had three rooms: a small kitchenette, a small living room with a Chaz lounge and a T.V. and a bedroom with a full sized bed and a baby crib. Knuckles had this hut made for his wife and daughter because he didn't want them sleeping out in the open, and he's spent his whole life living out in the open while guarding the Master Emerald so he didn't really need a house.

He rushed into the bedroom towards the crib, Ruby-Emerald laid inside crying hysterically; Knuckles reached in to pick up and hold her, "Shhh, its okay sweetheart. Daddy's here, don't cry. What's the matter?", he said. A small grumble from her abdominal region informed Knuckles that she was hungry, so he set her back down in the crib in order to prepare a bottle for her, but it wasn't the usual bottle of milk.

You see because Ruby-Emerald was half bat, the milk had to be blended together with three cups of fresh insects; baby Mobian bats were fed alternative meals between their mother's milk and fresh insects to not only ensure they got the recommended daily amount of protein but also to ensure they had healthy immune systems, once the babies reached 18 months of age, they could be weaned off of the "insect-milk" and start drinking regular cow's milk.

Also because she was half echidna, Ruby-Emerald had to be fed every five to six hours, which seems like a wide time gap for feeding except when she was fed, she consumed up to 40% of her body weight because of how thick the insect-milk was.

Walking into the kitchenette, Knuckles grabbed one of the containers that Rouge had pre-filled with her breastmilk, using the breast pump she had gotten at her baby shower, and poured some into the blender; then he reached into the cupboard and pulled out a bag of live, wingless mosquitoes. Bags of these were sold in pet shops to feed lizards and small snakes, but Knuckles and Rouge had bought about fifty pounds of them so they'd enough to feed Ruby-Emerald.

Knuckles poured about three scoops of the flightless bloodsucking insects into the blender and closed it, turning it on and mixing the bizarre combo; once he was sure it was blended enough, Knuckles shut off the blender and poured the thick and chalky colored liquid into a baby bottle. He then placed the bottle into a small pot of water over a griddle, heating it up; he then took the bottle back to the bedroom and gave it to Ruby-Emerald.

The little halfbreed immediately grabbed onto the bottle and began guzzling down the insect-milk while Knuckles checked her diaper, seeing that she had indeed soiled herself and went about removing the diaper and applying powder as well as a fresh diaper onto her bottom. He then took the empty bottle from Ruby-Emerald and picked her up so he could burp her, to which she released a loud almost frog-like belch.

"Haha, that's my girl. You know, you're a lot more trouble than you're worth but I've honestly been through worst, plus I love you too much to be bothered by it", said Knuckles as he wiggled his nose against Ruby's which caused her to laugh. Then she let out a loud yawn as her eyelids began to droop, Knuckles gently laid her back down in her crib and turned on the mobile above her, its slow movements and soothing music putting her to sleep.

This gave Knuckles the chance to walk back outside and up the stairs of the Master Emerald's alter, he sat down to take a breather; this wasn't the first time Ruby had disturbed his all important Emerald guarding. For the past month, Ruby-Emerald would constantly cry, sometimes it was for food or her diaper was dirty or she'd simply cry and cry until Knuckles carried her in the hopes that she'd tire herself out, even if it took all night long.

Sometimes Rouge would come home from work to find Knuckles dead asleep on the lounge as he had tired himself out taking care of Ruby-Emerald, so she'd help him out by tucking him into her bed and going outside to guard the Master Emerald for him. Rouge knew out of the two of them, Knuckles was the most stressed because of the baby and she did her best to contribute in taking care of her but it was hard since she worked full time at G.U.N, and sometimes her work stretched into long hours of the night, she wasn't always able to be home long enough to tend to Ruby-Emerald.

It upset Rouge that not only did she not have enough time to spend with her daughter but also that her husband had to exhaust himself taking care of her on his own, but Knuckles always insisted that he didn't need any help and he could handle taking care of her himself but he did think it wasn't fair that his wife had to miss out.

And they weren't the only couple having issues...

Back down on the surface, in Sunset Heights, Infinite and Nyx were dealing with their own host of problems; Nyx was now a month and a half along in her pregnancy and her symptoms haven't gotten any better, in fact despite Rouge saying they'd get worse, Infinite still wasn't prepared.

Nyx became far more aggressive to the point where she wouldn't let anyone touch her because her maternal instincts tricked her into believing they might hurt her unborn baby, she had made a makeshift cave out of blankets and pillows inside her bedroom to hide in until she gave birth just like real wolves. Her cravings for meat became stronger to the point where she tried to eat it raw, which only resulted in her vomiting up the uncooked flesh.

Speaking of vomit, she also began feeling the effects of morning sickness. Even if it wasn't morning, Nyx would always vomit at rather awkward and random times, and each time Infinite had to clean her mess; it was like the worst part of her being sick times a thousand.

And what also happened to Nyx could be seen as either good or bad depending on how you look at it.

Her lusty behavior towards Infinite seemed to increase by a hundred percent because when he got home from performing his community service, she'd drag him up to her room and lock the door; there was also no chance for him to escape either because during one particular night where he was very tired, Infinite discovered Nyx's secret favorite kink: she was in to bondage. She had locked him in the room with her, and blindfolded him with a scarf and used another to gag him; then she tied his arms and legs to the bedposts with rope and just had her way with him.

Nyx was so consumed by lust that she didn't give him even a small moment of reprieve, since she had twice as much stamina as he did she was able to keep going for hours until she got tired or bored, and she'd crawled back into her makeshift cave leaving Infinite, bound and unconscious, on her bed. Sometimes she'd forget he was still there and Infinite would spend several hours tied there until Metal Sonic came to untie him.

The whole experience left Infinite exhausted and sometimes with sore muscles from being tied up for so long, but despite the fact that he was well within his right to refuse, he never did because even if the constant love making was ridiculous, he wasn't going to lie and say he didn't enjoy it because he did. But even if he did enjoy it, he wished Nyx would give him a night of peace.

Infinite eventually managed to escape his wife's clutches when he got a call from Shadow asking to meet him in town, so while Nyx was asleep in her makeshift cave, he quietly sneaked out of the house and headed downtown. Infinite finally met up with Shadow and 123-Omega, the former of whom had bought him a double cheeseburger and fries since him wasn't able to have dinner last night because of Nyx and didn't make himself breakfast for fear of her catching him.

He took the food from Shadow and began stuffing his face, "Thanks Shadow, so why'd you call me here?", he said. Shadow smirked, "Well I know you've been practically held hostage by your pregnant wife so I figured you could use some food. Anyway as to why I called you, it's because of a case that the commander at G.U.N assigned to my team: according to the reports, about hundreds of dollars of medical equipment and medicine has been stolen from local hospitals and clinics.

"It's become a government issue since the reports have also stated that the culprit has been spotted in and near one of Eggman's abandoned bases. Now I know you're wondering why I'm asking you to help us out is because Rouge decided to take the day off and we're short one person, and also this is part of your community service", said Shadow.

Infinite understood the situation as it had only been two and a half years at this point and his sentence of community service had not yet been fully served out, and he also needed an excuse to get out of the house and away from his horny wife. So later that day, Infinite joined Shadow and Omega in their investigation; they decided to do a stake out outside of the abandoned base the reports said the thief was squatting in, the plan was to catch the thief as they returned to the base with the stolen goods.

It was about five hours before Omega detected movement outside of the base, Infinite and Shadow looked to see the thief wearing a dark cloak and dragging what looked like an oxygen tank into the base. "Thief detected! Mission protocol engaged", said Omega. The trio slowly approached the base, quietly waiting outside the doors for the thief to come out again.

After a few minutes, the cloaked figure once again stepped of the base again; Shadow and Infinite then tackled them to the ground, the thief let out a loud scream of pain as they fell to the hard floor. They started coughing violently, "P-p-please d-d-don't hurt me! I-I-I'm not d-d-doing anything w-w-wrong", they stammered. "Well you should've thought about that before you decided to steal from hospitals and clinics. Do you know how many sick and injured people you're putting in danger by stealing medicine and equipment?", said Shadow.

Infinite was taken aback by the thief's voice, it sounded like a voice he had heard before. He stepped towards them and threw their hood back to reveal them to be a young male jackal wearing a green beret who had bloodshot eyes and dark bags beneath them, and a small trickle of blood dripping down the side of his lip. Infinite gasped in shock as gazed upon the terrified face of the jackal before him, he felt his breath hitch and his heart rate quicken.

"L-L-Levi?! I...is that you?"

Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 6 and I just dropped another big bombshell on y'all! If you want to know what happens next, come back for Chapter 7 and see; until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	7. Chapter 7

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 7: Shadow's Guilt and Infinite's Regret

 _Previously on Light of Hope 2..._

 _Infinite was taken aback by the thief's voice, it sounded like a voice he had heard before. He stepped towards them and threw their hood back to reveal them to be a young male jackal wearing a green beret who had bloodshot eyes and dark bags beneath them, and a small trickle of blood dripping down the side of his lip. Infinite gasped in shock as gazed upon the terrified face of the jackal before him, he felt his breath hitch and his heart rate quicken._

 _"L-L-Levi?! I...is that you?"_

 _And now..._

The young jackal looked back at Infinite with fearful confusion, "W-w-who are you? And...h-h-how do you know my n-n-name?", he asked. Infinite cautiously took a step forward and crouched in front of him, "Levi, its me. Its Zero", he said. Levi took a moment to really look at the jackal that squatted in front of him, he wasn't sure whether he was telling the truth or not but then he looked at his eyes...those same heterochromic eyes with a white scar across the right eye.

"z-z-Zero...? Boss...?...Oh my Chaos! It is you! I can't believe it, you're alive!", he shouted as he burst into tears and thrusted himself into Infinite's arms. Infinite smiled as he hugged the youngest member of his former squad, he himself was also overjoyed to find out he was still alive. But the wonderful moment was ruined when Levi started coughing violently again, Infinite pulled away to see that as he coughed into his hand, blood was seeping through his fingers.

Infinite was horrified, "Levi, what's wrong with you?!", he shouted. "I-I-I have a few internal injuries, a couple of my ribs are broken and I think one of them has punctured my lung—"

Levi was cut off when he spotted Shadow standing behind Infinite, he let out a loud scream before it devolved into more bloody coughs. "Its him! Its the Hedgehog! Stay away from me, you bastard! You've taken enough from me already, you're not taking her too!", he shouted. Before Shadow could explain himself, Infinite stepped forward and gently grabbed Levi by the shoulders. "Levi, what are you taking about? Who's her? Are you talking about Tempest? Is she alive too?", he asked.

Levi looked down as he started crying again, "Follow me i-i-inside, Zero", he said as he led him, Shadow and Omega inside the base. When Levi flipped a large switch on the wall to turn on the lights, Infinite was horrified by what he saw: lying on a old tattered mattress was Tempest, she had a oxygen mask on her nose and mouth connected to a tube which was connected to the tank Levi had stolen; she had an I.V. drip attached to her left arm and, scariest of all, the lower half of her right leg was amputated and the remaining stump was wrapped in thick bandages.

Infinite slowly approached the only female member of his former squad and bent down near her head, gently running his hand through her hair, "W-w-what happened to her?", he asked. Levi dropped to his knees next to him, "After that Hedgehog kicked me in the chest, I blacked out. When I woke up, I found Tempest on the ground barely breathing; she passed out in my arms, I thought she was dead but I felt that she still had a pulse. She's in a coma now, has been for the last two and a half years.

"I've been stealing oxygen tanks to keep her breathing and I.V.s to keep her fed, as for the morphine and other painkillers, I stole them for me. My injuries hurt so much that I've been taking the painkillers to make them hurt less, but it's hard to breathe from time to time. As for her leg, it was broken so bad that I...I cut it off and I bandaged it the best I could", he said.

Infinite was taken aback by what he was just told, Tempest was in a coma and Levi was injured internally, and the latter was struggling to keep the both of them alive all this time by himself. "Wait, where are the others? Where's Crimson, Steel and Bruiser?", asked Infinite. Levi continued to cry as he pointed in the direction of three cryogenic tubes suspended on the wall; Infinite walked over to the tubes and wiped away the condensation to reveal the other three male members of his former squad, all of them frozen solid but they each had peaceful expressions on their faces as if they were merely asleep.

"Are...are they...alive...?", Infinite struggled to get out as he gazed upon his comrades frozen bodies. "No boss, they're all dead. After I got Tempest situated here at this old unused base, I went back for them but when I checked them out, I found out that none of them had a pulse. I dragged their bodies back here and tried to see if this place still had power, turns out it did. Despite the fact that I was weak and tired, I managed to build those cryo chambers out of the parts I found in here and I put them inside. I couldn't bury them right away but I didn't want them to start rotting and attracting bugs, so I froze them to keep them "fresh" so to speak", Levi sobbed.

Suddenly he began coughing again only this time, the blood came out in chunks; Infinite rushed to his side as Levi's eyes began to glaze over, "No! No! No! I'm not losing you as well! Shadow, we have to get him to the hospital now!", he shouted. Shadow nodded as he helped Infinite lift Levi's limp body off the ground and into his arms, that's when he took a look at Tempest. "What about her? We can't just leave her alone", he said.

Infinite thought about it for a minute before he got an idea, "Omega, I need you to gently pick up Tempest and carry her with us to the hospital. Do not, under any circumstances, disconnect her from that oxygen tank! As far as we know, that's the only thing keeping her alive", he said. "Affirmative, direction acknowledged", responded Omega as he carefully lifted Tempest with one hand and lifted the oxygen tank connected to her in the other. "Alright, now both of you grab onto to me", said Shadow as he pulled out his green Chaos Emerald, "Chaos Control!"

Mere seconds later, they reappeared inside the hospital lobby, once again scaring the ever-loving crap out of the staff and patients. "Ugh, you people really need to stop doing that! I know this is a hospital but that doesn't give you license to give everyone heart attacks", said Dr. Reiner. "Doctor please help me! My friend here, he's dying!", Infinite shouted as held Levi out for the doctor to see. Dr. Reiner was horrified when Levi coughed up more blood and even started speaking funny due to the delirium he was suffering from because of the blood loss.

"Oh my Chaos, what happened to him?!", asked Dr. Reiner. Shadow remained quiet and stood away with a guilty expression on his face, but Infinite stepped forward on his behalf. "I'm not sure how this happened but he told me he had some broken ribs and one might've punctured his lung. Just hurry up and help him!", shouted Infinite. Dr. Reiner nodded and turned to the nurses, "Go and prep the operating room immediately, and tell my best surgeons to get themselves scrubbed down and ready to operate", he said.

"Count me in too, you're gonna need my help!"

The group turned to see Nyx walk into the hospital while being escorted by Metal Sonic, "Nyx what on Mobius are you doing here? You should be at home resting...and...uh...", Infinite trailed off as he suddenly felt awkward due to a certain elephant in the room. "Its okay Infinite, I'm not gonna act that way. Orbot and Cubot gave some herbal tea and Metal Sonic forced me to take a muscle relaxant, I'm completely calm and collected now.

"Also you weren't at home when I woke up and you weren't answering your cell phone, so I had Metal track the cell phone signal and it led us here. I overheard everything and we'll discuss it later, right now, this poor boy needs our help", said Nyx as Metal Sonic helped her put on some scrubs. "But Dr. Snowfall, you're currently on maternity leave! You shouldn't be here, it could be hazardous to you and your unborn child!", said Dr. Reiner.

"Alex, that kid is family and as long as his life's in danger, I'll always help him. Plus, I know to take the necessary precautions; just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm ignorant and besides, when it comes to emergency surgeries, I'm the best damn doctor in this hospital for the job. Now get that kid to the OR and tell the anesthesiologist to have the sedatives ready, in the meantime the rest of you nurses get that poor girl to another room and put her on an adequate life support machine", Nyx commanded as she quickly took charge of the situation.

Nobody argued with her as they proceeded with their designated tasks, with Nyx and the other surgeons wheeling Levi to the operating room and a group of nurses taking Tempest to another room to be hooked up to life support. Later on, Shadow and Infinite were sitting in the waiting room; both were very tense about the entire situation. Suddenly Omega approached the two of them, "You have been sitting here for approximately three hours, so the female wolf designated as 'Dr. Snowfall' insisted I bring you food items from hospital's eating facilities", he said.

He held his large metal hands to reveal that in one he held two wrapped up sesame seed bagels and in the other he held two cups of coffee; Shadow and Infinite quietly accepted their food and drinks as they continued to sit in total silence.

"Infinite, I'm sorry".

Infinite was taken aback when he heard Shadow apologize and when he turned to see the sorrowful and guilty expression on his face. "I'm sorry for what I did to your squad, if it wasn't for me Levi wouldn't be fighting for his life, Tempest wouldn't be in a coma and the other three wouldn't be a bunch of corpsilces right now. I know I was on a mission to stop infiltrate Eggman's base at Mystic Jungle and that I needed to be prepared to take out anyone who stood in my way, but I didn't have to attack them this severely", said Shadow.

Infinite placed his hand upon his shoulder and gave him a sad smile, "Shadow, its not your fault. Its mine; my squad and I had actually gone after Eggman as capturing him would've fetched us a high bounty but then he used the Phantom Ruby on me and somehow I was convinced to have us work for him. He had my squad guard his base in Mystic Jungle, I remembered my squad trying to convince me to drop it but I wouldn't listen.

"I'm just now remembering that Levi was the most adamant out of all five of them, he was so scared and worried about me but I refused to listen to him. And now I deeply regret doing so, he's just a kid, I shouldn't have let this happen to him; he's too young to go through this kind of pain, he's been through enough", said Infinite. Shadow was now curious, "Wait...Infinite, how old was Levi when he first joined your squad?", he asked. Infinite inhaled deeply and let out a long sigh, "He was fifteen years old", he said.

"F-f-fifteen years old?!", said Shadow. Infinite looked down at the ground sadly, "Yes, fifteen. Even now that two and a half years have passed, he's still just a kid; when I first met him, he was getting hassled by three tigers who claimed be owed them money. It wasn't until at least two weeks after he joined me that I found out what kind of life he had before we met", said Infinite.

 _~Flashback: Two and half years ago...~_

 _Infinite and Levi were camped out by an oasis in the desert, munching on figs and a few frogs they caught in the water; after having dinner, Levi went to sleep while Infinite laid on his sleeping bag and stared up at the stars._

" _Mmph!"_

 _Infinite was pulled out of his stargazing when he heard Levi muttering in his sleep, he turned and saw him twitching and grumbling, his face contorted in fear and pain. "Levi, what's wrong?", said Infinite as he gently placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. Levi suddenly screamed out as he began clawing at his sleeping bag, "NO! Dad, please stop! I'll be good, I promise! Please stop! I-I-it hurts!", he shouted._

 _Acting quickly, Infinite picked up one of his canteens and splashed some cool water onto Levi's face; the young jackal suddenly woke up with a startled gasp, "Z-Zero? Why did you throw water at me?", he asked. Infinite gave him a stern yet concerned look, "You were having a nightmare but I feel it was more like you were reliving a bad memory, and I want to know what it is. I promise I won't judge you, I only want to help you", he said._

 _Levi began crying as he threw himself into Infinite's arms, "Zero, it's just awful! When I was little, my mom died; my used to be a really nice guy when she was still alive but after she died...he changed. He started drinking and...he became more aggressive, especially around me. He would go out and gamble, and whenever he lost, he'd that his anger out on me and beat me senselessly. Then...one day...he...he...oh Chaos...", Levi found it difficult to continue as his body shook from the sobbing and he began whining like an injured dog._

 _Infinite held him close and stroked his head gently with his hand, "Its okay, Levi. Take your time, don't push yourself if you can't handle it", he said in caring voice. Levi took a deep breath before he continued to speak, "Okay. One night, Dad came home from another one of his poker games a lot drunker than usual; I had been borrowing money from Tony and his gang to pay off his debts. He came into my room smelling of whiskey and sweat, he was babbling on and on about the money he won and then he started apologizing to me for beating me up._

" _He kept saying over and over that he was sorry, that I'm a good son and that he was just mad about losing his money, but he won and now things would be better; he then kept telling me he loved me and then...he got too close to me, his face was close to mine and I could smell his breath, it smelled awful. The Dad...he...he put his lips on mine! He started making out with me, I tried to get him to stop but he was bigger than me and stronger and he wouldn't stop! Then he grabbed my pants and—"_

" _Levi, its okay, you can stop. I don't need to hear more and quite frankly, I don't want to hear any more. But I want you to know that I'm here for you and I promise I'll always protect you, and if that bastard you call a father ever comes around you, I will personally introduce him to the sharp end of my sword", said Infinite. Levi smiled as he continued to hug his comrade, "Thank you...big brother", his said._

 _~End of Flashback~_

Shadow was shocked by Infinite had just told him, "Are you saying he was...?", he trailed off as he didn't know how to respond to that. "Yes, Shadow. Levi was...molested by his father, and on that same night he ran away from home and decided to live on his own. He had trust issues before he met me and it wasn't until he joined me that he began to open up more, the others loved being around him and he loved to just talk and talk for hours about tech, he's kinda like Tails. I promised I'd keep him safe but I failed", he said.

Infinite had look of regret and sorrow on his face but Shadow placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile, "I guess we're both at fault but at least you can say that both of our reasons were somewhat justified, after all we both know that Eggman was the real one at fault. If it wasn't for him, your squad wouldn't have been forced to guard his base and I wouldn't have had to defend myself when they attacked me", he said. Infinite smiled back as he fist bumped Shadow.

Just then, a male rabbit nurse walked up to the duo. "Excuse me, Mr. Jackal, but I'm pleased to inform you that Levi's surgery went well and he's resting in the recovery room; it'll be a few hours before he'll wake and right now its best not to disturb him. In the meantime, I'd like to also inform you that the female jackal you also brought in has awakened from her coma", he said.

Infinite was shocked by what he heard as he got up and ran to the room where Tempest was recovering; she was currently being looked over by a nurse when Infinite burst into the room. She was shocked when she saw him, "Z-Z-Zero? Is that you...?", she said softly. Infinite had a wide smile on his face when he saw her awake, albeit a little weak and frail looking. "Tempest, you're awake! Look at you, you still look so beautiful! How are you now?", he said.

Tempest's lip quivered as tears began running down her face, "I m-m-miss you...so m-much...", she sobbed. Infinite slowly approached her and held her in a loving embrace, "Don't cry, Tempest. I'm here now, and this time, I promise to keep you safe", he said as he stroked her rather smelly and dry hair. He let her cry on his shoulder, it didn't matter what happened now, Infinite hadn't really lost his squad; granted, three of them were now dead and would soon need a proper burial but he still had Levi and Tempest, and for Infinite that was still alright.

He still had his brother and sister with him.

Author's Note: Well that ends Chapter 7, and more about Infinite's relationship with his squad members has been revealed. What will happen to Levi and Tempest now that they are not only alive but now have significant health problems? Find out next time in Chapter 8; until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	8. Chapter 8

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 8: A New Family

Tempest laid quietly in her hospital bed as she listened to Infinite explain everything that had taken place over the last two years while she was in a coma: he told her about his fight with Shadow, how being called weak pushed him over the edge, obtaining the Phantom Ruby and becoming Infinite, helping Eggman start the war by defeating and capturing Sonic and taking over most of Mobius.

He told her about being defeated and then Eggman ripped the Phantom Ruby from his chest, forcing him to run for his life after Eggman ordered his robots after him; he told her about how he almost bled to death until Nyx saved him, even though he had killed her old friends. Then he told Tempest about their secret friendship that blossomed into a romance and now he was married to Nyx and expecting his first child.

"I mean I wasn't completely absolved of my transgressions as I have to perform community service for five years and I've only completed two and a half at this point, but it's not so bad. People are slowly starting to trust, I have many friends now and I'm married and going to be a father in two more months", said Infinite.

Tempest was taken aback by all she was told, she couldn't believe that all this went down. "What happened to the rest of our squad?", she asked. Infinite looked down to the floor in sadness, he almost didn't want to tell her but he knew it would cruel to hold the truth from her. "Despite having broken ribs and a punctured lung, Levi took care of you. Unfortunately, Crimson, Steel and Bruiser all...died; Levi kept them in cryogenic tanks this whole time to keep them from decomposing because he couldn't bury them", said Infinite.

Tempest gasped in shock before she started crying into her pillow, Infinite felt terrible for telling her about that but he knew if he kept that to himself and let her find out later, it would've been much worse. After a few minutes, Tempest stopped crying and just stared blankly at the wall behind her.

"So...what about Levi? How's he doing?", she asked. "He's alright, he came out of surgery an hour ago and he's resting right now. I'm just glad that you're both still alive, and I hope you can forgive me for putting you in this situation in the first place", said Infinite sadly. Tempest smiled as she reached out and held his hand, "I don't care about that, all that matters is that my big bro and my little bro are alive and okay. I heard I'm getting a new leg in about three days and the docs say I need to spend a few months of physical therapy before I can use it properly, but it's fine", she said.

Just then, Nyx walked into the room holding a tray of hospital food. "Hey there, I thought you might be hungry so I went and got you some food", she said as she set the tray down on the sliding table. "Oh, Tempest this is my wife Nyx. Nyx, I'm sure you've met Tempest", said Infinite. Tempest smiled, "So this is the wife you were telling me about, huh? Gotta say Zero, she's a real cutie. You sure know how to pick 'em", she said.

This made Infinite blush and laugh, he was happy to see that Tempest was starting to act like her old self again despite the tragic setback that was losing her old teammates and half of her right leg. "Oh, I almost forgot! Infinite, Dr. Reiner wanted me to tell you to meet him in Levi's room. He said that when he wakes up, there's some important information he needs to give you both, and Levi was beginning to come around when I peeked in", said Nyx.

Infinite left the room and made his way to the other side of the hall where Levi's room was; sure enough, the teenaged jackal was slowly waking up as Dr. Reiner was replacing his I.V. bag with a new one. Levi looked up to see Infinite smiling down at him, "Hey there, little buddy. How are you feeling?", asked Infinite. "I'm alright, my chest feels kinda stiff and a little sore though", said Levi.

"That is a common feeling after having surgery in the chest area, a little rest and some pain medication will clear that right up. Now then, Infinite, the reason I asked you here is because I assume Levi will be in your care once he's discharged from the hospital, so as such I need to inform you on what needs to be done", said Dr. Reiner.

He turned around and pulled something out of a box on top of the sliding table, it looked like a white face mask with a black outline.

(If any of you have trouble picturing what this mask is supposed to look like, it's the white and black face mask accessory that you earn as a reward in one of the levels in Sonic Forces).

"What is that?", asked Levi. "Its specially developed breathing apparatus, fully tested and approved for use by the Mobian Department of Health. You see, Levi, two of your broken ribs had punctured both of you lungs; the damage wasn't too extensive but it was still severe due to the amount of blood you were coughing up.

"Due to your injuries and the surgery, your lungs are now very weak and prone to infection. However, this mask will assist you in breathing as well as using a built-in filtrater to purify the air you breathe in. You'll need to wear this for the next four months until your lungs fully heal; you have to wear it at all times, but its flexible and waterproof so you can sleep and shower with it on.

"The only times you can take this mask off is to eat or brush your teeth, much like invisible braces. Do not remove it under any circumstances aside from the two I mentioned or else you risk exposing your lungs to bacteria, and you also need to take it easy as to not strain and injury your lungs", said Dr. Reiner.

Levi and Infinite were in shock by what they heard, but Levi took the mask and placed it over his nose and mouth; he slowly took a breath and felt how easy and comfortable it felt to breathe with the mask on. It let out a sigh of relief as he laid back in his bed, "Ah, this feels good. Thanks a bunch, Doc", said Levi.

Dr. Reiner smiled, "Yes. You can feel a significant difference between breathing with the mask and without, it's designed to help your lungs with the strain of expanding and contracting as they take in oxygen. Now, is there anything else I can do for you before I go see my other patients?", he said.

Levi shook his head, "No thanks, Doc. I'm good, just feeling a little tired is all", he said. Dr. Reiner left the room, leaving the two jackals alone in the room. Infinite sat next to Levi, "Guess what? Tempest finally woke from her coma, she wasn't very happy when I told her about what happened to the others but she's doing better, and she'll be getting her new leg soon", he said.

Levi let out a small laugh followed by a short yawn, "That's good to hear. I'm feeling pretty sleepy now, Zero", he said. Infinite smiled as he patted Levi on the shoulder, "Alright then, I'll leave you be for now. Let the doctors know if you need anything", he said. Levi smiled back, despite the fact that it couldn't be seen because of the mask, before his eyes fluttered closed and his breathing slowed to a steady rhythm as he fell asleep.

~Time Lapse: Two months later~

In time, Tempest and Levi were discharged from the hospital; Levi continued to wear the face mask as his lungs still weren't fully healed yet, but he had gotten used to wearing as it. And Tempest was given a new robotic leg, the surgery and recovery was tough for her, but she was able to adjust in time; in fact, she actually liked her new leg.

Nyx had to call up a construction crew to add a few additions to her house to make room in her home for Levi, Tempest and her new little bundle of joy. For you see, in those two months, Nyx gave birth to her son, Finneas or Finn for short. The little wolf/jackal boy had jet black fur like his father, but he had a skunk-stripe of white fur going from his muzzle to the dock of his tail; he had a head of dark purple hair like his mother and his eyes were heterochromic, with one being purple like his mother and the other being yellow like his father.

The additions added to Nyx and Infinite's house gave them three extra rooms: one to be shared by Levi and Tempest, one for the three robots and the last one was a nursery for baby Finn. After moving in, the two jackals soon became acquainted with Infinite's other friends; they were still apprehensive of Shadow because of what happened, even after Infinite explained everything, but they were slowly starting to trust him.

We now find our strange family at their home; Nyx was at work that morning and Infinite was at home because he didn't have any tasks that morning. Levi was upstairs in his room taking a nap, Infinite was in the kitchen making lunch and Tempest was sitting in the living room watching tv with Orbot, Cubot and Metal Sonic while little Finn was playing in a playpen in front of them.

Just then there was a knock at the door, "Metal! Can you get that? I'm a little busy in here", Infinite called out from the kitchen. Metal Sonic approached the door and answered it, revealing Silver standing in the doorway with two year old Maria holding his hand and carrying two month old Ruby-Emerald in his other arm.

"Hey Silver, how's it going? What are you doing here?", asked Tempest. "I came to bring Maria and Ruby-Emerald here for their playdate with Finn. I brought Ruby myself because Knuckles couldn't leave the Master Emerald unguarded", said Silver. He walked over to the playpen and placed the two little girls inside, the hedgehog toddler and infant echidna/bat giggled as they played with the toys and infant wolf/jackal.

"So how's Shadow doing?", asked Tempest. "He's alright, he had to work overtime so it's been just me and Maria at home for the past few days. It sucks, but he's getting paid a great deal and when he is home, we never seem to have too much fun", said Silver.

"Hey there Maria, how old are you now?", asked Cubot. "I'm two years old, Mr. Qubot", she said mispronouncing his name because she thought there was a 'Q' in it rather than a 'C'. Silver smiled at this before turning to the front door, "Well, I have to go now. I've got some errands I need to run, I'll come back to pick up Maria and Ruby at 4:00. Bye guys", he said as he left.

Infinite was just about done with preparing lunch when he heard the sound of his son crying from the living room, "What's up with Finn?", he called out. Metal Sonic picked up the small baby with surprising gentleness for a robot, but he was reprogrammed to respond to Nyx and Infinite's commands and one of them included being protective and gentle with their infant son; that and Tails implanted a microchip with a "Nanny Program" on it so Metal would know how to handle children.

"My audio sensors are registering a low rumbling sound from the infant's stomach, meaning he is hungry", said Metal Sonic. Infinite quickly went about making a bottle of warm milk for Finn, which he then gave to Metal who began feeding him. He then burped Finn and set him back down in the playpen, where he continued to play with the two girls.

Later on in the night time, after Silver came to take Maria and Ruby-Emerald back home, Nyx and Infinite were seated at the dining room table with their new family having a meal of mashed potatoes, steak and steamed vegetables; Finn sat in his high chair while his mother fed him a jar of mushy bananas and squash.

"So...I was thinking about helping you guys find some jobs in town. You two shouldn't have to sit around the house all day doing nothing", Nyx said to Levi and Tempest. The two jackals looked at one another before looking back at her, "Well I know my fair share of tech, so...I guess I can work as a technician", said Levi.

"Yeah but what can do? Before I joined our squad, I was a thief. And even after I joined the squad, I mostly just fought when I needed to and picked locks to get into places. What kind of job can I have?", said Tempest.

"Well...we can figure that one at some point. Right now...the most important thing is seeing to it that Crimson, Steel and Bruiser are given a proper burial. They deserve that much, and we can't leave them in cryogenic chambers forever", said Infinite. Everyone at the table agreed on that, they knew a funeral had to be held for the three deceased members of the Jackal Sqaud; it only seemed fair that they were laid to rest.

"Well, whatever happens, I know we'll get through it. We're a family now and no matter what happens in the near future, we'll always be there to help each other out", said Nyx. Everyone at the table all smiled in agreement, and after the mess of a life they had before this point, Levi and Tempest couldn't have asked for a better family.

The moment of silent reflection was interrupted by Finn letting out a loud burp followed by a giggle, this prompted everyone to laugh. "It seems little Finn agrees with you as well", said Orbot. Yep, they were quite a strange family consisting of three jackals, one of which has a robotic leg and the other wearing a breathing apparatus, a wolf, an infant that was part wolf and part jackal, and three robots.

A rather odd family but they cared about one another all the same.

Author's Note: That ends Chapter 8. Levi and Tempest are now trying to adjust to their new lives and Nyx has had her baby. If you're wondering what his full name is, its Finneas Octavius Snowfall the Wolf/Jackal; it's a long name, I know, but hey we all know your full name never comes up in conversation, not even when you first introduce yourself to people.

So next chapter, while the group plans the funeral for Crimson, Steel and Bruiser, a person from Levi's past comes back to threaten to hurt him and his new family. Can his new family help him? Find out in Chapter 9; until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	9. Chapter 9

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 9: Scars of the Past

Nyx, Infinite, their new family members and their friends were gathered at the Sunset Heights Cemetery for the funeral of Crimson, Steel and Bruiser.

When they were first planning this funeral, Infinite was worried that they didn't have enough money to cover the expenses, but Nyx had reassured him. You see, three months after her parents were killed and she was released from the mental ward, Nyx was contacted by the Sunset Heights First National Bank and told that her parents had taken out a huge life insurance policy on both themselves and left her all the money.

They had originally left her 1.3 million dollars but since they were murdered as opposed to dying of natural causes, the amount had doubled to 1.69 million dollars; Nyx had placed all the extra money into a separate account that only she had access to and decided to only use it in case of emergencies because she already earned enough money as a doctor.

The money in this account was more than enough to pay for the costs of the funeral, from the caskets to the tombstones to having the bodies made presentable to having the funeral at the funeral home.

Now they were gathered together to bid farewell to the three former members of the Jackal Squad; Infinite stood up and walked up to the podium to give a eulogy for his deceased comrades.

"Crimson and Steel were the most reliable and toughest members of my squad, a pair of brothers that didn't always get along but still cared about one another just as much as they cared about their fellow squad members. Crimson always knew his way around a tight spot and you never had to worry about getting lost in the desert with Steel on your side, he had excellent navigation skills.

"Bruiser wasn't always the smartest guy around but he was the strongest, if you ever got trapped under something heavy, you never had to be afraid you wouldn't get out if Bruiser was around. He was also the most sensitive guy I knew, when he wasn't helping us in a fight, he'd always just stop to admire the beauty of nature.

These three weren't just my friends and comrades, they were the only family I had in a time when I was alone and had no one, and even if I've been blessed with the fact that two of my former squad members are still alive and living with me and my new family, I still honor the memory of my three fallen friends and I will always remember the good times we had together.

"And I hope that they can find it in themselves to forgive me for causing the chain of events that led to their unfortunate demise, and one day when my time comes, I hope we can be reunited and spend an eternity together in peace. Thank you", he said.

Infinite's small speech made the majority the guests cry at how beautiful it sounded, it showed how much he truly loved his former squad members and how guilty he felt for playing a part in the events that led to their deaths. The three caskets were then lowered into the ground and buried, the epitaphs above their graves were shaped like crosses because it made it easier to tie Bruiser and Steel's green headbands and Crimson's red scarf around the top part of the crosses as a way to honor them.

Everyone got up in groups of two to place flowers by each of the graves and them they stopped by Infinite, Levi and Tempest to offer their condolences before they went home; Infinite and his family stayed behind for a little while longer. The three remaining jackals looked upon the graves in sadness and also...happiness, they were sad that their three brothers were now gone but they also knew that now they were at peace and one day they'd all be reunited in the afterlife someday.

~Time Lapse: Three weeks later~

We find Infinite, Levi and Metal Sonic in the park on a rather sunny cloudless day; Nyx had taken the day of work to go help Tempest find a job in town, Levi had gotten a job as a technician at a computer company but due to him still recovering from lung surgery, they allowed him to start working after he was fully recovered.

So he was enjoying this pleasant day by relaxing on a park bench with his big brother while they both watched Metal Sonic playing with Finn by letting the puppy ride him like a horse; Levi took a deep breath as he felt the purified air filled his lungs, he had been seeing the doctor every few weeks so they could monitor the progress of his recovery.

As it turned out, Levi's recovery was going quite well; his lungs were getting stronger by the day and Dr. Reiner informed him that after one more month passes, he would be allowed to remove the mask and live without it, but for now he still needed to wear it.

Levi laughed as he watched Finn tap Metal Sonic on the back while the blue robot hopped around on the grass like a frog, "The little guy sure has a ton of energy. Imagine when he gets older, and starts running around all over the place", he said. Infinite laughed in agreement, "Oh boy, I'm not sure if I'll be able to catch up to him. Hopefully he'll be less rambunctious than I was when a baby, I mean he's also Nyx's son so maybe he'll be reserved like her", he said.

Just then, the whimsical music of an ice cream truck flowed through the air as a truck drove up to the entrance of the park, "Hey, I'm gonna go get some ice cream. Do you want any?", said Levi. "No thanks, I'm not really much of an ice cream eater, and Nyx said not to give Finn too much sugar", said Infinite.

Levi nodded as he was handed five dollars from Infinite and walked over to the ice cream truck, "Excuse me, can I have a single scoop of strawberry with rainbow sprinkles, please?", he asked. The female cat inside the truck smiled as she accepted his money and gave him his change before going to get his ice cream cone.

Just as he got his ice cream, Levi turned around and bumped into someone, almost dropping his frozen treat. "Oh I'm sorry. I didn't see you there", he said to the person he bumped into. When he looked at them, however, Levi paused and felt like his heart had stopped. Before him stood a middle aged male jackal with a white gotee.

The jackal looked at Levi in shock before his face slowly stretched into a smile, "Levi? Son! Hey, I've been looking for ya for years. How ya been?", said the man. At this point, Levi had dropped his ice cream cone on the ground but he didn't care as he felt bone-chilling fear creep up his spine; he started having a panic attack and even began screaming.

Infinite and Metal Sonic heard his screaming and came running to the entrance of the park to find Levi down on the floor on his knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Infinite, while holding Finn, bent down and held Levi close to his body as Metal Sonic stood in front of them.

"Unfamiliar Mobian, identify yourself immediately!", demanded Metal Sonic. "Metal...t-t-that's my d-d-Dad...!", Levi croaked out. Infinite suddenly became very angry, he stood up suddenly and gave Finn to Metal Sonic before walking over to grab the man by the collar of his shirt. "So you're the bastard!?", snarled Infinite.

The man was suddenly confused, "Yeah, I'm Richard, Levi's pops. What's the big deal?", he said. Infinite became even angrier, "What's the big deal!? What are you, crazy or stupid?! Have you forgotten the Hell you put your son through...!?", Infinite suddenly stopped yelling and moved closer so he could whisper into Richard's ear.

"Meet me near the abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town in two hours", he growled before he let go of his collar. Infinite walked over to Levi and helped him stand up, and led him away as Metal Sonic followed close behind while holding a sleeping Finn.

The small group made it back to their house, where Infinite led Levi up to his room and helped him lie down and calm his breathing. "It's okay, Levi. Just relax and breathe, you're safe. No one is going to hurt you", said Infinite as he gently rubbed his back. Levi slowly started to calm down as he took deep breaths through his mask, he even beginning to doze off as well.

Infinite left the room and walked downstairs where he spotted Orbot and Cubot playing a game of chess, and Metal Sonic was sitting on the couch while gently rocking a sleeping Finn. "Uh...not that it's any of our business, but did something while you guys were at the park today?", asked Cubot. Infinite sighed as he sat on the couch next to Metal, "Levi's father had randomly showed up and Levi had a panic attack. I can't believe that bastard decided now would be a good time to show his face, it just..."

He trailed off as he felt himself seething with rage, his hand gripping the arm of the couch. He sighed heavily and sank into the couch, "I'm sorry for my outburst, it's just that when I first met Levi, he told me about his life. He told me about how abusive his father was and...and...how his father had molested him", Infinite growled.

Orbot and Cubot gasped at that despite not having lungs to take in oxygen and therefore not really able to gasp, "Oh my that sounds quite awful", said Orbot. "Yeah and it's pretty sick too!", said Cubot despite basically repeating what Orbot said.

Infinite sighed as he looked over at his son, who slept peacefully as he nuzzled into the warmth of Metal Sonic's metallic body. "I just want my family to be safe and happy, why does Fate constantly try to throw a wrench into it? [Sigh] I'll be right back, keep an eye on Levi and Finn until I return", said Infinite.

He got up and left the house, walking to where that abandoned warehouse was located just outside of town. He saw Richard leaning against the wall of the warehouse, he sighed as he tried to keep his anger under-wraps. "Oh hey, I was wondering when you would show up. So mind telling me what all this is about? And why my boy was screeching like a banshee earlier?", said Richard.

Infinite once again took a deep breath to keep his anger under control, "Look, your son ran away from home and joined my mercenary squad to get away from you! You physically abused him while he was busting his chops trying to pay for your gambling debts and then one night, you got more drunk than the village idiot in medieval times and you molested him. If you didn't realize that, you're either stupid, have memory loss or you're just a sick bastard and you just don't care that you've traumatized Levi so severely. So I'll give you a minute to explain why you're here", he said.

Richard gave him a sad expression as his sighed, "Look, I know I did some terrible things and I can't any of it back, but I just want to start over and try to be a better person and father. So what do you say? Will you give me a chance?", he said. Infinite looked down and shook his head, "I'm sorry but you wasted your chance when you put your hands on Levi in a place no child should ever be touched. I appreciate that you've at least come to terms with your horrid behavior and are trying to clean up your act, but bringing you around Levi would only damage him even more. So...goodbye", he said as he left.

When he came home, Infinite saw Levi sitting at the table eating a bowl of soup. "Hey there, how are you feeling?", asked Infinite. "I'm okay, Metal made me something to eat after I woke up. What happened to my...Dad?", said Levi. Infinite scoffed, "I met up with him and he said he was trying to change his ways and wanted to start over with you but I told him he had lost his chance when he violated you. And while I appreciate him going to the effort of becoming a decent person, it's too late for him to reconnect with you and I left", said Infinite.

Levi sighed as he finished his meal and placed his mask back onto his face, "Well it's better that way, I don't think I would've been able to try to reconnect with him. He...hurt me so much and I'm still afraid of him, so it's for the best that we never have any contact with each other. Thanks for helping me out, big brother", he said. Infinite smiled as he patted Levi on the shoulder, "Always happy to help, little buddy", he said.

The next day, Levi was back at the park playing with Finn on the grass as Metal Sonic watched over them; Levi held up a twig as a bright yellow caterpillar crawled along it, "Look Finn, it's a caterpillar. Soon it'll turn into a butterfly, neat huh?", he said. Finn moved closer to the twig as the caterpillar crawled onto his nose, the little pup let out a sneeze at the ticklish feeling of its hairy legs on his nose, the force of the sneeze sending the caterpillar flying into a shrub.

After sniffling, Finn let out a giggle and clapped his tiny hands which made Levi laughed; he then picked up the stuffed bear he brought with him and gave it to Finn, who hugged it. Behind them, Metal Sonic sat on a bench looking at a ladybug that had flown over and landed on his metallic finger; as he stared curiously at the insect, he didn't notice the shadowy figure slowly approaching behind him. Metal Sonic barely had time to react before the figure electrocuted him with a taser.

The poor unsuspecting robot fell to the ground, twitching uncontrollably; his spastic movements were scaring Finn as Levi noticed what happened, "Metal! What's wrong? What happened?", he asked fear. That's when he saw the shadowy figure and he suddenly held his infant nephew close to his body as he began shaking in terror, "No! Please...stay away from us! Get away!", he shouted but the figure stepped closer.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Meanwhile downtown, Infinite was with Tempest helping her find a job and she finally got one: a mixed martial arts instructor; during her time as a member of Infinite's squad, he learned that aside from thievery and lock-picking, she was excellent at hand-to-hand combat and Infinite thought that now that the squad had been disbanded and everyone was starting a new life, he felt she shouldn't let that talent go to waste.

The two of them were now walking to a cafe to have lunch, "I can't wait to start work on Monday! I am so gonna whip those wimps into shape", Tempest said excitedly. Infinite laughed, "I hope you'll at least go a little easy on them, you need to remember that many of those people learning it are novices", he said. Just then, Infinite felt his cellphone vibrating inside his pocket.

He reached in and pulled his phone and saw that it was Nyx calling him, "Hey babe, how's it going?", he said. "Infinite, this is no time for joking around! Something is wrong!", shouted Nyx. Infinite was taken aback by her panicky voice, "Whoa wait a minute, Nyx! Calm down and tell me what's wrong", he said. "I tried to call Levi a few minutes ago to check on him and Finn but he's not answering his phone, and then I tried contacting Metal Sonic but it keeps telling me he's not online. What's going on, Infinite? I'm scared", said Nyx.

Infinite was beginning to grow concern as well, he knew Metal Sonic was always online and Levi never missed a call unless he was in the shower and couldn't reach his phone. He tried to call both of them himself but neither answered, which only caused him to panic internally. Just then, his phone rang again and he saw that it was Sonic calling him, so he answered it.

"Sonic, I'm not in the mood to hang out with you right now, I'm in the middle of a crisis right now!", he said. "Okay but I just thought you'd like to know that Amy and I found Metal Sonic lying on the ground on our way to the park to have a picnic, I called Tails because he's lying here twitching like a fish out of water", said Sonic. Infinite abruptly hung up the phone as he hurried over to the park with Tempest following close behind him.

When the two of them arrived at the park, they were greeted by Sonic, Amy and Tails who stood over the fallen form of Metal Sonic. "What happened to him?", asked Infinite. "Someone or something must've overloaded his circuits with electricity, there doesn't seem to too much damage to his internal processor so I can fix him up", said Tails. He repaired the damage and Metal Sonic was able to start back up, "Metal, what happened? Where's Levi and Finn?", asked Infinite.

Rather than tell them, Metal Sonic activated his memory banks and replayed the footage of what took place within the last two hours, and when he saw the footage, Infinite's face contorted into an expression of extreme rage; his eyes nearly turned red and his hand squeezed into a fist so tightly that his claws almost pierced his skin. "I'll kill him!", he growled through his gritted teeth.

Meanwhile, Levi opened his eyes to find himself in a dark place; he looked down and saw, to his horror, his arms and legs were tied together. He struggled to break free but the ropes were too tight, so he gave up; Levi took a breath and then started to panic as he had just realized that his mask was no longer on his face, meaning that his still recovering lungs were now exposed.

A coo from the left of him caught his attention and he turned to see Finn locked inside of one of those crates used to catch and trap lobsters; the little pup looked scared and confused as he clung tightly to his teddy bear while sucking on his thumb. "Finn? What's going on here?", Levi asked fearfully.

Suddenly he heard the sound of dark laughter, he looked up and saw that four shadowy figures were approaching him from the dark; once they stepped into the dim lights of the room, Levi felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach. Three of the figures were revealed to be Tony and his gang of tigers who had harassed him for money before he met Infinite, and the last figure revealed themselves to be his father Richard.

"D-D-Dad! Wha...what are you doing...?", Levi stammered. Richard didn't respond but rather he slowly stepped closer to him and punched him in the face. "You thought you could just run away? I OWN YOU! And as such, I can do what I want with you and you can't do anything about it. Now then..."

He trailed off as he turned towards the three tigers behind, "So you said he owes you money since he borrowed some from you and didn't pay back, so here's my proposal: I'll pay you all the money you want if I let you beat this little wuss for a little while. I need to teach him a lesson but I don't entirely feel like it and you fine gentleman also have some beef with him so I'll leave you to it", said Richard.

Levi began breathing heavily as he started panicking, the burly tigers surrounded he and proceeded to take turns punching and kicking him into the dirt; Levi kept screaming and screaming for them to stop, especially when he felt one of his ribs cracked, but they never relented. In fact, they took great pleasure in the pain they were causing him while Richard watched with perverse glee.

Then a small whimper caught his attention and he turned to see Finn burying his face into the plush fur of his stuffed bear, sucking his thumb as tiny tears fell from the corners of his eyes; being only a two month old baby, the loud noises were scaring him. Richard smirked as he opened the lobster trap, reached inside and pulled Finn out by his long fluffy tail. "Heh, funny little squirt ain't he?", he said as he shook Finn around which caused the pup to start crying hysterically.

Despite the pain he was in, Levi still managed to look up and see his bastard of a father swinging his nephew back and forth like a washcloth. "Leave him alone!", he shouted in defiance. This caught Richard's attention as he motioned for Tony and his goons to back off, "So this kid is important to you, huh? Who even is this squirt? Were you babysitting for someone before we caught you?", asked Richard.

Levi spat out some blood before speaking, "Yeah...he's my nephew! When I ran away, I met a jackal named Zero, or Infinite as he goes by now, and joined his squad. We treated each other like brothers and even now he's still my big brother and that makes his kid my nephew, even if we're not related by blood. So...you can do whatever you want to me...just don't hurt Finn, not that you would because even someone like you wouldn't hurt a baby", he said.

Richard let out a small chuckle as he slowly placing Finn on the ground before walking over to Levi, "You're right, I won't hurt a baby. But since you asked me so kindly, I can hurt you", he said as he gave Levi a swift kick to the ribs. Levi coughed before his eyes fluttered closed and he passed out; little Finn whimpered and continued crying.

"What do we do now?", asked Tony. "I say we drag my poor excuse of a son out into the desert and just leave him there, maybe he'll learn to man up or the buzzards will peck his nuts off but hey, either way I'll be satisfied", said Richard. The tigers laughed as two of them walked over to pick up Levi's limp body but they stopped when they suddenly heard a strange low humming noise, it sounded like a lawnmower with a dying motor.

The group looked around and didn't see the source of the strange noise, all they saw was Finn sitting on the floor bawling his eyes out while his teddy bear laid on the ground beside him. "Did you guys hear something?", asked Tony. "I didn't hear anything. Stop fooling around and pick his sorry ass up already", said Richard. The tigers continued to lift Levi up but then they heard the sound again, only this time they also saw a bright red light.

They looked and, to their shock, they saw Finn's teddy bear floating in the air while surrounded by glowing red cubes; suddenly, the bear began expanding in size, its black beady eyes turned red, claws extended from its paws and a demonic sharp toothed smile spread across its face. The tigers dropped Levi on the floor as they looked on in horror, that's when they also noticed those same glowing red squares were surrounding Finn but he didn't notice as his were closed tightly while he kept crying.

The teddy bear lifted it's right arm and pointed a claw at Tony and his goons, its toothy grin dropping into an angry snarl, "YoU bAd...yOu NeEd...pUnIsHmEnT!", its said in an angry, almost robotic voice. The three tigers backed away in fear and screamed as the monster toy flew towards them with its claws extended and began attacking them.

Richard stood back in horror as he watched the monstrous toy tear the three tigers to shreds, he looked down and saw that Finn was still crying and screaming as the glowing red cubes floated around him. When the bear was done, it suddenly turned around and was about to attack Richard when the sound of doors trying to be opened could be heard.

The monstrous toy then shifted back into a normal teddy bear and fell into Finn's tiny hands, the little pup didn't stop crying but he did calm down and just kept whimpering as he gripped his bear.

Just then, bright sunlight filled the room; as it turned out when Richard had kidnapped Levi and Finn, he took both of them to the same abandoned warehouse where Infinite had told him to go away and never show his face again; Infinite had realized that as well and he and the others, along with the police, had made their way to the warehouse to save them.

They had just burst in as the cops rushed over and forced Richard to the ground and handcuffed him while the others rushed over to Levi and Finn, "Oh my Chaos, my baby! It's okay sweetie, Mommy's here now!", shouted Nyx as she rushed over and picked up Finn. She held her whimpering son close to her body and rocked him gently, the little pup stopped crying and nuzzled into her neck; Tempest rushed over and picked up Levi's limp body.

"He doesn't seem too badly injured, but he is still hurt and we need to take him to the hospital now", she said. Infinite turned towards Richard who was being held back by the cops, "You're extremely lucky that I'd be sent to prison if I tried anything on you, otherwise I'd beat you within an inch of your life for kidnapping my brother and my son. But since you're not worth the effort it'll take for me to finish you off, I hope you rot in jail", said Infinite.

"Not only that, but he's also going away for murder and attempted murder as well. We found three tigers over here, looks like he tried to butcher them. Two of them are dead while the last one is barely breathing", said one of the officers by the fallen bloodied bodies of Tony and his goons. Richard suddenly snapped out of his shock and yelled, "I didn't do any of that! It was that baby! He turned his toy into some kinda monster and attacked them! I swear!"

Everyone looked at him like he was insane, none of them willing to believe a sweet innocent baby was capable of such a thing. Just then, a cough caught everyone's attention; it was Tony who had drawn their eyes to him. "I-it's true...that baby just...sat there crying his...eyes out, and then these...red glowing squares started...floating around him. Then his...bear toy...turned into a...monster and attacked us. You're kid has some freaky magic powers..."

Tony trailed off as he passed out and was carried away by the paramedics along with Levi while the cops dragged Richard away. Everyone else stood in shock by what Tony had said: Finn's teddy bear turned into a monster and attacked them while red glowing squares were encircling Finn as he cried due to the amount of fear he was experiencing. But they quickly pieced together what he meant when he said "red glowing squares" and it terrified them.

Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 9 and...I don't have much to say this time, so I'll just leave it here and let you guys tell me what you think of this chapter in your reviews. Come back soon for Chapter 10; until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Like Father, like Son/Daughter

The group which consisted of Sonic, Amy, Nyx, Infinite, their son and Tails had relocated to Tails' home/workshop; Dr. Reiner had contacted Nyx an hour ago and informed her that despite the beating he endured, Levi wasn't in any immediate danger. The most he suffered was bruises and a broken rib that thankfully didn't puncture his lungs, and his lungs may have been exposed but they weren't compromised.

Physically, Levi was going to make a full recovery but Dr. Reiner said that the psychological damage was extensive: being physically and sexually abused by his father was one thing, but to have his father come back claiming he changed for the better only to bribe Tony and his gang to beat him mercilessly...there was no denying that Levi was scarred by this incident and needed professional therapy.

Nyx thanked Dr. Reiner for informing her and she said she'd take care of it on Monday morning as she knew an excellent therapist for whom she could recommend for Levi. Now she stood off to the side with her best friend, his fiancee, and her sister as her husband and son laid down on an examination table while Tails used a machine to scan the two of them. Tails looked down at a console that was wirelessly connected to the machine with fascination.

"Huh, this is very interesting", said Tails. "What is it, Tails? What did you find?", asked Sonic. Tails looked down at the console, "According to my Bio-Scanner, even after Eggman had removed the Phantom Ruby from your chest, about 80% of its energy still remained inside of your body, Infinite. Then something happened: at some point, half of the energy had transferred out of your body, leaving only 40% inside of you and the 40% that was transferred out is now inside of Finn", he said.

Infinite sat up in shock, not only at being told he still had some of the Phantom Ruby's power within him but that his infant son also had some of its power as well. He looked down at his hands and closed his eyes, concentrating on trying to access this power within him; the same low humming noise was heard as red glowing cubes appeared and changed the interior of the workshop into the interior of an airship. There was a fire lit in the wood fire stove, which filled the room with comforting warmth that everyone could feel.

"Wait a minute, I know this place!", said Nyx. Infinite looked around in sadness as his head dropped down, "Its...my childhood...home...", he trailed off as tears welled up and fell from his eyes. Nyx walked over to him and held him close, "Its okay, honey. Don't cry, I'm here for you", she said as she kissed his forehead. The room shifted back to normal as Infinite looked up at her with a smile and gave her a kiss on the lips, he then looked down at Finn who crawled over and laid in his lap.

Tails held a questioning expression, "Hmm, Tony said that Finn was crying the whole time before his teddy bear morphed into a monster and attacked him and his gang. I have a theory about that, but I want to test it first", he said. Tails walked over and gently pulled the teddy bear away from Finn, which caused him to start crying; just then the room suddenly turned into a swamp with piranha infested waters.

"OUCH!", shouted Sonic as a piranha had chomped down on the end of his tail. Tails quickly gave the bear back to Finn and he calmed down, red cubes circled the air as the swamp suddenly changed back into Tails' home/workshop but Sonic still had a very visible bite mark on the end of his tail; then Tails moved closer to Finn and started to make goofy faces at him. The little pup started laughing at the faces he was making, the red cubes appeared again and the room morphed into a circus tent with a bunch of clowns running around doing all kinds of silly tricks.

Tails thought for a moment, "Hmm, interesting. Nyx, I want you to pick up Finn and rock him to sleep", he said. Nyx picked up her son and proceeded to rock him gently back and forth, humming the song her mother sang to her; Finn's eyes slowly drooped closed and he fell asleep, the red cubes appeared and changed the circus tent into a grassland with several sheep lying around sleeping beneath a cloudless, full moon night. "Tails, this is cool and all but what exactly are you trying to do here?", asked Sonic.

"It proves my theory that the Phantom Ruby's energy is only activated if the user is experiencing strong emotions, think about it: Infinite made his childhood home, which was burnt down, appeared and the sight made him cry. Then I took Finn's bear away and he cried, making my workshop turn into a piranha filled swamp and disappeared when I gave it back; then I made funny faces and a circus appeared when he laughed, and a grassland with sleeping sheep appeared while he's being rocked to sleep.

"Its clear that Infinite and Finn can tap into their respective wells of Phantom Ruby energy through strong emotional stimuli, only difference is that Infinite is more capable of controlling his emotions than Finn and not just because Infinite is an adult but because he has had experience with using its power. In fact...maybe that explains how he was able to use it in the first place.

"At that point in time, Infinite was consumed by anger and hatred, and those emotions translated into all the destruction he caused. Finn was terrified by the loud noises made while Levi was being beaten and that fear translated into his teddy bear turning into a monster that attacked the reason for his fears. Even in terms of the Phantom Ruby prototypes, it could've also worked the same way. Nyx, what emotions were you experiencing when you used the Phantom Ruby prototype?", asked Tails.

Nyx wracked her brain to try and remember what exactly happened, "Well the first time I used it, it was after my battle with Infinite. I still felt hatred towards him for what he was doing and then he conjured these cannons to fire at me, but before the cannon balls could hit me, they suddenly phased through my body. Then when Eggman planned to drop the sun on us and Tails told me I had to use the prototype to stop it, I felt nothing but determination as I leapt into that fake sun, effectively destroying it...I also felt searing pain from how hot it was", she said.

Tails nodded, "As I expected. Whether its a prototype or the real thing, the Phantom Ruby's energy is only activated when the user is experiencing extreme emotional stimuli. Its too soon to know for sure just how strong Finn's power will be and its also too soon for Infinite to show him how to properly, so for now, you both have to make sure he doesn't get to excited or upset otherwise your house is either going to be overrun with bugs or Chao", he said.

Infinite looked at his son who was sleeping peacefully in his wife's arms. _Just when I start to believe my life was staring to go back to normal_ , he thought.

A month later, Nyx and Infinite were doing their best to make sure their son's emotins stayed in check, but that was easier said than done; everytime Finn cried, something crazy or terrifying would happen. For example, when he cried because he was hungry, a monster version of his baby bottle tried to eat Tempest alive. And when he cried because his diaper was dirty, the entire house would transform into a garbage dump and stink to high heaven. And each and every time, Infinite had to use his own power to eliminate the illusions; it was difficult balancing that and making frequent visits to the Sunset Heights Rehabilitation Center to help Levi cope with the his psychological trauma.

But as stressful as their lives were, it was nothing compared to what Sonic and Amy had to deal with. You see they were engaged to be married but the wedding was actually rescheduled to take place a month earlier than it was originally because as it turned out...Amy was now pregnant. And because the gestation period of Mobian hedgehogs is 30-40 days, the wedding had to happen before she gave birth.

Exactly 40 days after the wedding, Amy gave birth to a pair of fraternal twins, a boy named Turbine Maurice the Hedgehog and a girl named Speedalina Rose the Hedgehog or for short, Speedy and Turbo. They were the spitting image of their parents: Turbo looked exactly like Sonic except he had Amy's light blue eyes and a single tuft of dark blue hair on his forehead, and Speedy looked just like Amy except she had Sonics green eyes and a single tuft of dark pink hair on her forehead.

Now raising twins alone is pretty difficult, even for two parents, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. Three months after their birth, the twins took their first steps and after that they perfectly demonstrated that they were indeed born with their father's inate super speed, and they were soon running all over the place with Sonic being the only one who could keep up with them.

But things got so much more hectic.

One night while they were asleep, Sonic and Amy were awaken by a loud crashing sound from outside. Grabbing her hammer, Amy following Sonic outside to where their trashcans were and the shadows of two small animals pushing and knocking the cans over. Sonic turned on his flashlight to reveal Speedy and Turbo, but that wasn't all, their fur looked darker in color and shaggier; the only teeth they had at the time had grew long and fanglike, their fingernails became claws, their baby quills were longer and their eyes had a darker hint to them.

Both baby hedgehogs looked up at their parents and whined like injured puppies because they thought they were in trouble, but Sonic and Amy simply stood in shocked silence. _Oh Chaos not this again_ , thought Sonic.

The next morning, Sonic and Amy brought their kids to Tails to have him scan them, and as it turned out, Infinite wasn't only one with residual dark energy that passed on to his child; Sonic still had about 60% of Dark Gaia's energy inside of him, the same energy that caused him to transform into a werehog at night, had been equally divided between him and his children and now each of them had 20% of the dark god's energy in their bodies. This energy, despite how small it might've seem, was enough to allow the twins to transform into a pair of mini werehogs at night.

Sonic wasn't too big a fan of the idea that he was still able to turn into a werehog because during the time before, he hated walking around looking like a unrecognizable monster but this time he was able to control his changing at will, and this meant he'd have an easier time teaching his children how to control their powers as well as protecting them from harm.

Sonic even called Nyx and Infinite, and told them about the whole situation. Needless to say, they all had a good laugh about it; as if being first time parents wasn't difficult enough, now one of them had powerful illusion abilities and the other two could transform into werewolf-like creatures at night. It seemed like they weren't allowed to have normal lives, even after almost three years of peace.

As he watched Amy feed mashed apples and bananas to Speedy and Turbo, Sonic only had one thought running through his mind as he scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. _Now how am I going to explain this to my parents_ , he thought.

Author's Note: Well that ends Chapter 10, and apologize to everyone for taking so long to update my story. Its just that I have been very preoccupied lately trying to find a part time job, not to mention I had just started an account on , under the name "Toshi-the-Panda-1996", so I have been rather distracted. I liked to tell you that I will update frequently but I'd been lying and I don't want to lie to anyone. Anyway, next chapter, we celebrate the twins first birthday as Sonic's family comes to visit and an old friend comes to visit after a long time. Who is it? Find out in Chapter 11; until next time, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out.


	11. Chapter 11

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 11: Family and Friends Return (One Year Later)

Sonic and his friends were all gathered at the backyard of his and Amy's house for Speedy and Turbo's first birthday, the twins themselves were playing with Finn and Ruby-Emerald, who were also a year old now as well. As for Maria, she was three years old, but was having fun playing with the other little kids; though like the others, she was having trouble keeping up with the super fast twins while they played a game of Tag.

Sonic, who stood by Knuckles, laughed as he watched the children playing. "Well, the twins are a year old now and they're already giving everyone else a run for their money...no pun intended", he said. Knuckles let out a chuckle, "They sure take after you, Sonic. They've got your free spirit, how do you keep up?", he asked. "I'm the fastest thing alive, remember Knuckles? If I couldn't keep up with my own kids, then it'd put my rep to shame. Speaking of kids, how goes you and your daughter?", said Sonic.

Knuckles laughed nervously, "Well...Rouge and I had a bit of an incident a month ago involving Ruby and the Chaos Emeralds", he said. "What do you mean?", asked Sonic.

"Well..."

 _~Flashback: A month ago...~_

 _It was a sunny morning on Angel Island, Rouge had the day off from work so she was able to be home with her husband and daughter, the latter of whom was playing in the grass. Just then, Ruby spotted a Flicky nest and watched as a mother Flicky carried a worm in her beak to her waiting hungry hatchlings._

 _This made Ruby curious, so she waddled-walked back to where her parents were sitting in front of the Master Emerald. "Mama, Papa. Can I ask question?", she said in her broken baby English. Knuckles smiled down at her, "Sure sweetie, you can ask Mommy and Daddy anything. What's up?", he said. Ruby twiddled her spiked-gloved hands, "Mama, Papa...where babies come from?", she asked._

 _Upon hearing her question, Knuckles and Rouge felt the blood drain from both their faces; Ruby was almost a year old, they didn't think she'd ask them this question now, they figured she'd ask them this when she was at least eight years old. Now they were both thinking of how they can explain the concept of reproduction to a one year old._

 _Knuckles was sweating nervously while Rouge was trying to find her words, "Um...well, sweetie, you see...babies come from...um...Chaos Emeralds! Yeah, when Mommy and Daddy met, we fell in love and wanted to be a family so we gathered the 7 Chaos Emeralds and made a wish, and that's where you came", she said. Ruby nodded before walking away, "Really Rouge? That's the best you could come up with?", asked Knuckles. "Well, Mr. Smartass, what would you have said?", asked Rouge._

" _Well, I would've said that babies come from...eggs. I mean, I am an echidna and they reproduce by laying eggs so it's not too far fetched. It would've been better than telling her the Chaos Emeralds granted our wish for a baby, I mean seriously? Since when do they granted wishes?", said Knuckles._

 _Just then, the two of them heard loud frustrated grunts; they raced over to see that Ruby gathered the 7 Chaos Emeralds into a pile and was angrily hitting them with a stick. "I want bwother! Gimme bwother!", she shouted as her face turned red and she dropped to the ground crying. Rouge gently picked up and cradled her, "Ruby, baby, what are you doing?", she asked. Ruby looked up with tear filled eyes, "I want big bwother but emralds no grant wish!", she sobbed._

 _Before Knuckles could say anything, a bright light glowed behind the trio and they turned to see Chaos standing behind them with an annoyed expression on his watery face. "Oh crud, um...Chaos, I know you're probably a bit peeved that the Emeralds were being...beaten with a stick, but it's not what you think. You see, our daughter, she—"_

" _Big Bwother!", Ruby shouted excitedly as she waddled over and hugged the Watery God by the waist, surprising him. Chaos looked at Rouge and Knuckles in confusion as the tiny hybrid child nuzzled her face lovingly into the side of his cool gelatinous body. "Uh...we can explain...", said Rouge._

 _~End of Flashback~_

"And then we ended having to explain to Chaos and Tikal, who appeared soon after, that we were trying to answer Ruby's question about where babies come from and Rouge gave her false information. Long story short, we told Ruby that it was a grown-up matter and that we'd tell her when she's older", said Knuckles. Sonic laughed after hearing his story, "Even I could've told you that you should've just told her she wasn't old enough to hear about it", he said.

Knuckles facepalmed as Sonic continued to laugh, that is until Tails walked over. "Hey Sonic, your family is finally here", he said. Sonic walked over to the door to let them in but was greeted by a pair of arms that pulled him face first into a pair of breasts. "My baby boy, it's so good to see you again! You have no idea how scared and worried I've been about you, oh my sweet baby I'm so happy you're alright!", shouted Bernadette the Hedgehog, Sonic's mother.

"I'm happy to see you too, Mom. But can you please let me go? You're suffocating me!", Sonic muttered as his face was smushed between his mother's bosoms. "Yes Bernie, let the poor boy go. He's running out of oxygen", said a robotic voice behind them. Bernadette finally released Sonic's head as he took in a big puff of air, and looked behind his mother to see his father, Jules the Hedgehog. "Hey there, Son. How have you been?", he asked. "Hey, Dad. I've been doing great, thanks for asking", said Sonic.

Suddenly Sonic was grabbed by two pairs of arms and pulled into a small group hug. "Bro! It's great to see you again, how ya been?!", shouted a pair of excited sounding voices. Despite his body feeling like it was being crushed, he was still happy to see his older sister Sonia and his younger brother Manic. "I'm alright guys, so can you let me go now?", said Sonic.

His siblings released him and apologized for smothering him as tightly as their mother had just did. "It's great to see you guys, but where's Uncle Chuck?", said Sonic. "Uncle Chuck was busy and couldn't make it, but he told us to tell you he wishes the twins a happy birthday. Speaking of which, where are the little tikes? I wanna meet 'em", said Sonia.

Sonic led his family into the backyard where his friends greeted them, "Hey kids, come over here. Daddy has a few people he wants you to meet", Sonic called out. Speedy and Turbo detangled themselves from the dog-pile they and the other kids were in before running over to their father. Sonic crouched down to their level, "Kids, I'd like you to meet your Uncle Manic, Aunt Sonia, Grandpa Jules and Grandma Bernadette", he said.

Sonia smiled as she reached down and picked up Speedy, "Look at you! You're such a cutie", she said making the little hedgehog girl giggle. Turbo walked over to Jules and pointed up at him, "Grandpa got armor! Is Grandpa a superhero?", said the little hedgehog boy. This saddened Jules because he knew the real reason for his metallic body was that he was robotized a long time ago, and he could never get his normal body back because his robotic form was the only thing keeping him alive.

So it pained him to hear his grandson innocently believe that he was just wearing a suit of robotic armor that he used to fight bad guys, but he also knew that the boy was too young to understand the truth, so instead he decided to indulge in his grandson and picked him up off the ground. "That's right, kiddo. Grandpa is a superhero, and this metal suit helps me fight the bad guys while protecting me from their attacks", said Jules.

Turbo laughed as his grandfather proceeded to give him a ride on his metallic shoulders while Speedy sat with her auntie and grandmother, letting both women brush her hair and quills. "By the way, little brother, I heard you were in a band. How's that working out for you?", Sonic asked Manic. It was true: about four months after the war ended, Manic started a band called "The Mischievous Six" which included him and five other hedgehogs.

"It's been going great! Our newest album just went platinum and, that's actually why I showed up. I wanted to meet the twins just before the band and I went on our new world tour, and...I was also hoping you, Sonia and I could play a song for the kids...you know, just like we used to when we were kids. I still have our old instruments from back then, and I been keeping as clean as new since then", said Manic. Sonic smiled as he threw his arm over his brother's shoulders, "Of course we play a song like old times, bro. I actually miss those days, things were a lot simpler back then", he said.

Manic smiled as he walked over to the snack table and helped himself to some cheese puffs. "Sonic! Can you come and help me with this?", Amy called out as she was trying to tie a chili dog shaped piñata to a branch of the tree in the yard. Sonic walked over and lifted his wife onto his shoulders, giving her a boost so she could reach the high branch.

Just then, they both heard the doorbell ring. "Hey Tails, can you get that for me? Kinda helping Ames put up a piñata here", Sonic called out. Tails walked back into the house to open the front door and when he did, he was greeted by someone who brought a wide smile to his face. Back outside, Sonic placed Amy down as they had finished hanging up the piñata; little Finn grabbed the twins' baseball bat and tried to hit the piñata but was quickly stopped by Infinite.

"Finn, no! That's not yours and it's not time for that yet, I'm sorry about that Sonic. He loves candy and after Nyx told him to stop making endless piles of candy with his powers so he doesn't get cavities, he's been itching for an excuse such as the twins' birthday party to have some candy", said Infinite. Sonic chuckled, "It's all good, Infinite. No harm done, but still, please make sure he doesn't open it before later. Ames and I wanna save that for towards the end of the party, that way the kids can tire themselves out after having some sugar", he said.

"Hey Sonic! Guess who's here to see you!", called out Tails. Sonic turned around to see a familiar light purple female cat standing on the patio deck. Both Sonic and Silver smiled as widely as their facial muscles would allow, "Blaze!", they both shouted happily as Silver raced over and gave his old friend a loving hug. Blaze giggled as she hugged him back, "I am happy to see you too, my oldest and dearest friend. I have to say you've grown much...taller since I last saw you and...is that a ring on your finger? Are you married? My, we really need to catch up", she said.

Sonic walked over and gave Blaze a quick hug, "It's great to see you again, Blaze. Where you been? How's life been treating ya? And what made you decide to come here?", asked Sonic. "Well to answer your questions in the order in which you asked: I've been back home in my kingdom in the Sol Dimension, I've been doing quite well and I haven't seen or heard from you in so long that I decided to come and visit, so I used the Sol Emeralds to teleport myself here", she said.

She then looked around and saw the twins playing, which took her by surprise. "Sonic, are those...", she trailed off. Sonic looked back and smiled, "Oh yeah, those are mine and Amy's kids: Speedy and Turbo", he said. Blaze watched as they played with the other children. _My word I really need to catch up_ , she thought.

Later on, Blaze found herself sitting on the patio deck talking to Silver; he explained to her all that happened during the last three years. He told her about Infinite and the war against Eggman, Sonic being defeated and held captive for six months, the Resistance, Infinite's reformation and marriage to Nyx, him marrying Shadow and adopting Maria, and everyone else getting married and starting families of their own.

Upon hearing the part about the war and Sonic being tortured for six months, Blaze adopted a saddened expression. "Sonic was...tortured...and you all were struggling to fight back. I'm so sorry, Silver! If I had known what was happening, I would've led my royal army to this dimension to help even the odds. And Sonic...I can't believe he went through all that, I mean...he seems so happy but I know deep down he must be traumatized by it all. Again, I'm so sorry", said Blaze.

Silver placed his hand upon Blaze's shoulder in a comforting gesture, "Blaze, it's okay. You don't have to apologize, you didn't know what was going on and I'm sure you had important things to do back home. The war was rough and many lives were lost but we still pulled through, Eggman should've known better than to think we couldn't stand up to him. Speaking of which, what have you been doing all this time?", said Silver.

Blaze, rather than speak, reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper and gave it to Silver; he unfolded it to see that it's was a picture of Blaze wearing a dark purple dress and was standing next to a light green male cat with black spots wearing a blue suit and a golden crown on his head. "Who's this, Blaze?", asked Silver.

"That is Prince Cyrus of the Leopard Kingdom, which is south of my home kingdom. His kingdom was caught in the middle of a terrible famine and his people were starving. He reached out to me for help and I was willing to share my kingdom's resources to help save his people. After helping him, he and I became friends and as the years past...we grew closer and now...", Blaze trailed off as she showed Silver the golden ring on her left hand. Silver looked at it and smiled, "Blaze, I'm so happy for you. It's great to see you again, old friend, and again, you don't have to apologize to anyone. I know you would've helped us if you had the chance, but like you just said, you had important matters of your own", he said.

Blaze smiled as she hugged her best friend, "Hey you two, I hate to interrupt the reunion but we need the patio deck for our show for the kids", said Sonic as he, Sonia and Manic stood behind them holding their old instruments. Blaze and Silver stood and moved aside as the three hedgehog siblings proceeded to set up for their little show. As he lifted up his old guitar, Sonic spoke into the microphone, "Heys kids, gather around. We're gonna play a little tune for you", he said. As they kids gathered close to the patio deck, Sonic turned to Manic and Sonia. "So...are we gonna sing anyway?", he asked. "I was thinking of an oldie but a goodie, you guys know what I mean", said Manic.

Sonic smiled, he knew exactly what his brother meant.

 _Sonic: "There's something missing_

 _Something's not quite right_

 _And I can fell it calling_

 _To me every night_

 _A little voice inside_

 _Tells me someone is out there_

 _And I must never give up_

 _Searching everywhere!_

 _All: (Someday) We are gonna be together_

 _(Someday) Life will be so much better_

 _(Someday) We will build a bond no one can break_

 _(Someday) No more dark clouds above_

 _(Someday) United in the light of love_

 _(Someday) The story can only end one way_

 _We'll be together someday_

 _(Someday) We are gonna be together_

 _(Someday) Life will be so much better_

 _(Someday) We will build a bond no one can break_

 _(Someday) No more dark clouds above_

 _(Someday) United in the light of love_

 _(Someday) The story can only end one way_

 _We'll be together someday_

 _Someday!_

 _We'll be together someday!"_

The kids all clapped and cheered after their performance was over; then Amy came outside holding the twins' birthday cake, which was a strawberry shortcake with pink and blue frosting and two miniatures of Speedy and Turbo make out of white chocolate, and a single candle shaped like a number one. "Okay kids, time for the cake", she called out. The twins sat at the table as Amy set the cake down and everyone gathered together to sing the birthday song.

" _Happy Birthday to you,_

 _Happy Birthday to you,_

 _Happy Birthday Speedy and Turbo,_

 _Happy Birthday to you!"_

The twins blew out the candle as everyone cheered, then everyone part took in a slice of the delicious cake; the kids even got to break open the piñata and gorge themselves on candy. Towards the end of the night, the kids had played so hard that they eventually crashed down from their sugar highs; Sonic's friends and family helped him and Amy clean up the back yard before they all went home, leaving their gifts for the twins in the living room, figuring the twins could open them in the morning.

Sonic and Amy said goodbye before they carried their sleeping children upstairs to their room, tucking them into each of their little race car beds. "The poor things are completely exhausted and out cold", Sonic said with a laugh. Amy gave him a sultry look as she quietly pulled him out of the twins' bedroom, "Yeah...which means they won't be able to hear what we do", she said as she gave Sonic a kiss on the lips and pulled him into their bedroom. Yup, today was a pretty good day. A pretty good day indeed.

Author's Note: That ends it for Chapter 11. I don't have much to say, so I'm just going to say tune in for Chapter 12 when another familiar face returns to greet our heroes, only this is one face that they won't be happy to see. Until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	12. Chapter 12

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 12: A Old Enemy Returns

It was a bright and sunny morning, with sparsely any clouds in the sky; out in the remote countryside, an old raccoon farmer was shoveling piles of hay into a cubing machine while all around him his cows grazed on the grass and stray pieces of straw. He paused to take off his hat and ran his face with it as the heat was making him sweaty, "Well, that 'bout does for now. Better go and get these here hay bales into the barn", he said to himself.

Suddenly, a bright red light and a loud whirring sound caught the raccoon by surprise; a strong gust of wind nearing blew him off of his feet, the loud noise scaring the cows and made them run around in a panic. Up in the sky above, a small reddish purple portal appeared, swirling and whirring loudly; the raccoon farmer looked up in fear as a rather dented and damaged hovering vehicle emerged from the portal, the portal closing behind it. The raccoon looked on in horror as an arm came up and pulled up the body it was attached to; when the farmer saw who it was, he screamed in terror as he got up and quickly ran to his house, picking up the phone and hurriedly dialed a number.

Meanwhile at G.U.N Headquarters, Shadow and Rouge were in the break room drinking coffee and having a conversation. "I was thinking about teaching Maria how to use Chaos Control, so if she's ever in trouble she could just teleport herself somewhere safe", said Shadow. "Can't only you, Sonic and Silver do that? I wasn't aware that was something you can just teach someone and also, I would think that being an overprotective parent, you'd be constantly making sure that Maria isn't in any danger", said Rouge.

That's when Shadow started laughing, "No actually, that's funny you mention that because as it turns out Silver is more of an overprotective parent than me. Remember Maria's third birthday? There were three little hedgehog boys from next door at the party, I think they were maybe three or four as well, and they were arguing about which one of them would play with Maria, one of them was even holding her hand.

"And then Silver looks at them with this almost evil glare and says "If any of you hoodlums try anything funny with my daughter, you'll have to answer to me!", while holding up his hand which was glowing. And remember when I suddenly ran into the bathroom immediately after? It's cause I needed to be somewhere no one can hear me as I laughed my ass off. I've never laughed so hard in my life, and don't tell Silver I said this, but he's really sexy when he's pissed off", said Shadow.

Rouge started giggling as she had remembered that day and just how ridiculous and funny it was, "I never expected him of all people to be the easily triggered overprotective daddy, but hey, people can change over the years. Like did you know that Sonic started going to the gym and The Chaotix started a babysitting service on the side? Apparently they haven't been getting any calls to solve any cases or anything so to avoid their house being foreclosed, they put out an ad offering their services in babysitting", said Rouge.

Before Shadow could comment, the intercom system suddenly blared out. "Agents Shadow and Rouge, report to the main briefing room immediately!", said the Commander of G.U.N. Shadow and Rouge placed their empty mugs into the sink and rushed over to the briefing room, whatever they had been called for sounded urgent given how serious the Commander's voice sounded. They reached the briefing room where E-123 Omega was already there waiting for the Commander to address his summons. "You called us here, what's the emergency?", said Shadow.

The Commander looked at them with a grim expression, "I called you here to tell you something very serious and dire: he's back!", he said. At first, Shadow and Rouge didn't know who he was talking about, but then as it sank in, both their eyes widened in shock and fear. Rouge placed her hands over her mouth as Shadow ran to the nearest phone and began dialing a number.

Back at his house, Silver was placing a small load of dirty laundry into the washing machine inside the basement while Maria played on the swing set in the backyard; just then, Silver heard the house phone ringing. He went upstairs and picked it up, "Hello? Who's this?", he asked. "Silver it's me, Shadow. Where's Maria?", said Shadow. "She's playing in the backyard, Shadow what's going on? Why do you sound so tense?", said Silver.

"Silver listen to me carefully: tell Maria to get inside the house now! And make sure the doors and windows are closed and locked...I don't have enough time to explain but...he's back!", said Shadow. Silver tensed up before hanging up the phone, he walked outside and called out to his daughter. "Maria, sweetheart, your father called and he said you need to come inside right now!", he said. Maria was off put by her Daddy's fearful demeanor but she still listened to him regardless. As she went up to her room, Silver went around the house making sure the windows and doors were locked.

Meanwhile at Sonic's house, Sonic and his kids were in their werehog forms, taking a bath in the large plastic kiddy pool in the backyard; the three of them had been playing and rolling around in mud earlier but since they all couldn't fit in the bathtub they decided to bathe in the kiddy pool that Sonic and Amy bought for the twins to play in. Sonic stepped out of the pool on all fours and shook his wet shaggy fur vigorously until his fur puffed up. The twins laughed at the sight of their dad looking like a giant blue cotton ball.

Just then Amy came running outside with the house phone in her hands and a fearful expression on her face, "Ames, what's wrong?", asked Sonic. "Sonic, Shadow just called me...he said...he's back!", she said. Sonic's eyes widened before he suddenly had an angry expression on his face, and being in his werehog form, his expression of anger was pretty scary to look at.

In fact, it was actually scaring the twins. "Why Daddy so mad?", asked Speedy as she trembled in fear next to her brother. "It's okay, kiddos. Daddy's not mad at you two, I'm mad at someone else. But you two need to finish your bath and get back in the house with your Mother. Amy, tell Shadow I'll be over there in a minute", said Sonic as he dried himself off and turned back to normal before taking off.

Meanwhile on a grassy hill near the park, Espio sat on a picnic blanket next to Gadget, Nyx's cousin; after Silver introduced the two of them at Nyx and Infinite's wedding, they've been dating for the last three years. Also with all the free time he's had, Espio had improved in his cooking skills and now was just as good a chef as he was a ninja; in fact, Gadget was at the moment finishing a peach cobbler that Espio had prepared that morning. "Wow Espio, this is delicious! I can't believe you made this yourself", said Gadget.

Espio smiled, "Well, I've had a lot of spare time lately so I've had the opportunity to learn and get better as a chef. I mean, Charmy loves the triple fudge brownies I made the other day and the last time I made lasagna for dinner, Vector had about five helpings. Oh wait, Gadget you seem to have a bit of cobbler on your face", he said. Gadget started patting his face, "Really? Where?", he asked. Espio lifted a hand to touch his cheek, "Right there, on the corner of your lip. Here, let me get it for you", he said as he leaned forward and kissed Gadget on the lips.

Even after dating for three years, Gadget was still taken by surprise by the sudden kiss but since this is the first time he's been with another Mobian in the last seven years, he's just getting used to it again. Also, you're probably thinking that it's difficult for Espio to kiss Gadget with that pointy horn on his forehead, but he knew that which is why he filed his horn with a nail buffer it so he wouldn't end up poking Gadget in eyes.

Just then, Charmy came flying over to the two in a panic. "Espio! You gotta come quick, it's an emergency!", he shouted. Espio looked back at him in annoyance, "Charmy, can't you see I'm far too busy for yours or Vector's silly schemes?", he said before turning around to continue kissing Gadget. "But Espio, this isn't a silly scheme! It's serious! He's come back from Null Space!", shouted Charmy. Espio tensed up as Gadget's ears lowered in fear, they both knew exactly who he was talking about.

Shadow, Rouge and Omega stood outside of G.U.N headquarters waiting for all the people they called to meet them there; of course since most of them had children, the only ones who showed up were Sonic, Tails, Infinite, Gadget and the Chaotix. But at that point it didn't matter as they soon headed for the remote countryside where the distress call came from. When they got there, they found the farmer who sent the call hiding in a pile of hay. "Hey, it's alright. We're here to help, tell us where he is", said Shadow. "He's over there by mah apple trees!", said the farmer.

The group raced over to the apple orchard and when they stopped, they saw him.

" _ **EGGMAN**_!", shouted Sonic and Infinite.

It was true: the rotund mad scientist was indeed freed from Null Space and had returned to Mobius, but the group quickly noticed that he didn't look the same as he did three years ago. His glasses were broken, his mustache was unkempt, his clothing was ripped in a few places and he looked considerably less round than before. To put it simply, Eggman looked like a total wreck and he was currently gorging himself on the apples in the orchard.

"Yeesh, Eggman you look like roadkill! Not that I really care, but what the Hell happened to you?", said Rouge. Eggman looked up but barely acknowledged their presence as he continued to munch on the apples, "My time in Null Space has been quite unkind to me, I once thought nothing existed there but there are actually these small and rather ravenous creatures living in there. And they tasted terrible but they helped keep me from starving to death. Tell me, how many years has it been? And what have you all been up to?", he said.

"Not that it's any of your business, Eggman, but it's been three years and we've all been enjoying the period of peace and harmony since you've been gone. The world's been put back on track, I've changed my ways and paid my debt to society and we've all started families of our own. And now that you're back, I think it's high time you go to prison where you belong", said Infinite.

Eggman sighed as he slowly stood up, "Fine then, take me away. I've lost track of how many times my plans have failed so I no longer care", he said in defeat. "There's one thing I don't get: how did you get back here?", said Sonic. "I had a small sliver of the Phantom Ruby left and with the broken remains of Death Egg Robot, I've been trying to find a way back. I didn't want to continue to rot in that place", said Eggman.

The group shrugged as Shadow had Omega contact G.U.N to send a prisoner transport vehicle to come and get Eggman; when the truck finally came, a few G.U.N soldiers stepped out and handcuffed him before leading him into the back of the truck.

The others watched the whole thing in disbelief and pity, they never really knew just how truly pathetic Dr. Eggman was but now after all the years of him trying to take over the world and making their lives a living Hell, and now that they've seen what a disheveled mess of a man he's become, they found they couldn't really hate him as much as before; they all thought there was no point in wasting the effort to hate someone so miserable and pathetic.

Don't get me wrong, they still didn't like him at all and were quite glad that he had given up and turned himself over to the authorities, not to mention if he did ever try anything again, he'd have no means of doing so since the President of the United Federation commission G.U.N to have all his bases torn down and destroyed. It was just...they never expected to see Eggman so beaten and broken and honestly, it disturbed them.

Author's Note: That ends Chapter 12. Eggman has returned but he's lost his drive and evil mojo, what will this mean for our heroes and their new families? Will the kids ever find out about it? Who knows? Next chapter, we jump ten years to see how the kids are adjusting to elementary school or in Maria's case, middle school. Will they survive? Find out in Chapter 13; until next time, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	13. Chapter 13

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 13: The School of Hard Knocks (Ten years later)

It was a partly sunny day on Mobius; Sonic was awoken that morning by not only his alarm clock but by the sound of loud crying, he got up from his bed and walked downstairs to the kitchen. He pulled out a baby bottle from the cabinet and filled it with milk before placing it into a pot of water, and placed it on the stove. Once the water was boiling, Sonic pulled the bottle out of the pot and tested the temperature on his arm.

Once he was sure it was warm enough, Sonic walked back upstairs into another room with a door decorated in blue flowers; inside the room was a changing table, a playpen full of toys and a crib with a moon and stars mobile. Inside the crib was a male baby hedgehog with light blue fur and a sprout of magenta colored hair on his head, "It's okay, SJ. Daddy's here and he's got your breakfast", said Sonic as he gave the baby hedgehog the bottle of milk.

And yes, that's right, Sonic and Amy had another child, another boy named SJ (short for Sonic Jr.); Amy had gotten pregnant a month ago and gave birth two weeks after the twins tenth birthday, and even though she thought it was cliche, she agreed to let Sonic name their second son after himself.

There was one thing they agreed on: three kids was enough for them, so Sonic went and got a vasectomy so he and Amy wouldn't accidentally have anymore children; the others did ask if he was serious and he surprised them when he explained that he was already a stay-at-home Dad, it was already too much taking care of the twins while Amy worked at an advertising firm, so now that they had another baby, they decided that three was enough.

Also, Sonic explained that in spite of his surgery, he donated his sperm cells beforehand so if Amy did decide she wanted another baby after theirs grew up, then she could, and if not, then at least another couple who couldn't have children would have the opportunity to do so.

Anyway, after giving SJ his bottle of milk, Sonic walked over to the twins' room; he knocked on the door three times, "Kids! Wake up! It's time for school, and don't forget, your Show and Tell project is due today", he called out. Sonic waited a second before the door opened and the twins walked out holding their toothbrushes, the two of them raced to the bathroom. Speedy and Turbo were eleven years old and in the fifth grade, and that morning they had a Show and Tell project to due for their class; as the two grew, they developed a competitive rivalry between them and it was based on who was fastest.

Yes, it was pretty funny and ridiculous that the children of Sonic the Hedgehog would compete over who was the fastest but it was true; the twins never accepted when either Maria or Finn or Ruby-Emerald told them that they were just as fast if not faster than their father, and they'd always have races to see who's faster. But it was all in good fun because at the end of the day they loved each other and would always stick together like siblings do.

The twins walked downstairs where Amy was making breakfast, just then there was a knock at the door; Amy opened it and saw Silver standing outside, "Good morning, Silver", she said. "Morning, Amy. I'm here to take SJ for the morning like we arranged", he said. You see, Speedy and Turbo's Show and Tell project was for their Dad to change into his werehog form and come to class while the twins them the story of how he saved the planet from Eggman and Dark Gaia, so Silver agreed to watch SJ until they were done presenting their project and Sonic would leave.

Silver walked over to the bouncy swing in the living room and picked up the baby hedgehog, placing him in his stroller and grabbing his baby bag. "Now remember Silver: use the organic baby powder when you change SJ's diaper, and he likes apple/carrot mush. Oh and—"

"Amy, my daughter was once a baby too, you know. Also, it's only for the morning. I promise he'll be fine, we'll see you later. Say bye to Mommy, SJ", said Silver. SJ looked up at Amy and muttered his incoherent baby babbling before he and Silver left the house.

Meanwhile on Angel Island, Ruby-Emerald, who was also eleven years old, was carefully placing something onto a wagon as Rouge was getting ready for work. "Hey there kiddo, ready to show off your Show and Tell project?", asked Knuckles. Ruby smiled as she patted something on the wagon hidden under a white tablecloth, "Yup! My project is coolest ever, Daddy", she said. Suddenly, Shadow appeared with Maria, who was thirteen, in a flash of light. "I'm here to pick up Rouge and Ruby", said Shadow.

Since Rouge worked at the same place he did and Maria and Ruby went to the same school, Shadow resolved to Chaos Control over to Angel Island and pick them up to save time; Knuckles said goodbye to his wife and daughter before they vanished. When they reappeared, they were right outside the schoolyard; the school was called "Sunset Heights Academy for Youngsters", it was a school for both Human and Mobian children.

It's important to know this because back in the old days, when Humans and Mobians still had biased prejudice against each other, the schools were separated based on the two races, but after a few years and a couple of laws were passed, the schools were merged; "Sunset Heights Academy for Youngsters" was one of these schools, it was a five story building that accommodated grades from Kindergarten to Twelfth Grade.

Maria and Ruby arrived just in time to run into Finn, Sonic and the twins, and to say hello before heading off to their respective classrooms; they all raced to class just as the bell rang signifying the start of the day.

"And that is the story of how our Dad teamed up with Light Gaia, defeated Dr. Eggman and Dark Gaia, and saved the world", said Speedy as he and his sister concluded their presentation.

The whole time, Sonic sat next to them in his werehog, listening as his kids regaled their classmates with the tale of one of his many adventures in saving the world; at the same time, all the other kids looked at Sonic with a mix of wonder and curiosity rather than fear, which made him question why he had to be on a leash, but the teacher, a pudgy middle aged female magpie, explained that despite knowing who he is, she was still concerned for her students' safety.

"Thank you, Speedy and Turbo, for that very interesting story about your father's adventure to put our planet back together. Now class, do any of you have any questions for Mr. Hedgehog or your classmates?", said the teacher. A little raccoon girl raised her hand, "Mr. Sonic, did it hurt you when you first transformed?", she asked. Sonic smiled, "Well at first, it was a little painful. I mean, it felt like my bones were being twisted and reshaped like a piece of bread dough, but after I got used to this power it stopped hurting. Now it feels very natural", he said.

Then a little badger boy raised his hand, "Mr. Sonic, do you miss your friend Light Gaia?", he asked. Sonic smiled solemnly, "Well, at first I called him "Chip" because he didn't remember who he was and he really seemed to like chocolate ice cream, so I gave him that name. In answer to your question: I do miss him, I know that since he lives within the planet and only wakes up every 10,000 years it means I'll never get to see him again, but I'll never forget the good times we had and even if I can't see him, I know he's still with me whenever I go", he said.

One more child, a shrew girl with pink glasses, raised her hand. "Um...Mr. Sonic...can I...can I...pet your fur?", she asked nervously. Sonic let out a small laugh, "Don't be so scared, kiddo, I'm still the same cool guy under all this rugged fur. You can pet my fur if you want", he said. The little shrew slowly walked up and patted the rough fur on his forearm before she said thank you and sat back down.

"Now then, Speedy and Turbo, please take your seats. We have one more presentation before lunch period. And thank you Mr. Hedgehog for taking the time to come to our class today", said the teacher. Sonic smiled as he changed back to his normal form, "No prob, teach. Kids, I'll be back to get you at 3:00. I gotta go get your brother from Silver, see ya", he said before zooming out of the school building and down the street.

"Alright now onto our last presentation: Ms. Echidna/Bat, would you please step forward and present your Show and Tell project", said the teacher. Ruby-Emerald nervously stepped to the front of the class pulling her wagon. At the front of the classroom, she pulled the tarp off the wagon to reveal a large white egg sitting in a bed of grass, "For my Show and Tell project, I brought the Chao egg that my Dad gave to me as a birthday present. But there's more to it than just my soon-to-be new pet, my Dad wants to train me for when I take over guarding the Master Emerald some day.

"If I do a good job guarding over my Chao egg, then I'll be a great guardian of the Master Emerald and I can't wait to guard when I'm a grown up. My Dad is a respected hero because of his duty to guard the emerald, something our ancestors have done for generations. Now, anybody have any questions for me?", she said.

A beaver girl with braces raised her hand, "Where did your Dad find the Chao egg?", she asked. "On Angel Island, that floating island in the sky where me and parents live, there's a Chao garden deep within the forest. My Dad went looking through the forest for a present for me and he found the egg at the base of a tree. The Chao in the garden let him have the egg and he gave it to me for my tenth birthday", said Ruby.

Then a rather sour faced mouse boy raised his hand, "So when you grow up, you plan on spending your life freeloading on a floating island, looking after some giant green rock while the rest of us down on the surface make a real living?!", he asked rather rudely. "Now Thomas, that's not a very nice thing to say. Ruby-Emerald's father has done many good things in the past for everyone on this planet; you're too young to remember but Dr. Eggman had once stole that emerald which caused Angel Island to fall into the ocean and flood the city of Station Square, and if it wasn't for the efforts of Mr. Echidna and his friends, many innocent people would've lost their lives. Please be respectful with your questions next time", said the teacher.

Soon the bell for lunch rang and everyone filed out and walked towards the lunchroom, Ruby decided to pull her wagon holding her Chao egg with her so she could keep a better eye on it but what she didn't notice was the mouse boy, Thomas, staring at her with a look of contempt.

You see, Thomas' parents are quite rich and well known, with his mother being a famous fashion designer and his father being the CEO of a major technology company called Flotech; both of his parents have made great advances in the fields of technology and fashion, and Thomas thought he'd instantly become popular in school if he bragged about his rich and famous parents. It worked for a while as half the class was jealous of his wealth while the other half thought he was cool, but that all changed when Speedy, Turbo, Ruby-Emerald and Finn were brought to school by their parents. Upon finding out they were the very children of famous heroes, they became the talk of the class, even though they were very humble about it and didn't really like all the attention.

And it's the kids' modesty that made Thomas so angry with them because he misinterpreted that modesty as them loving the attention and soaking it up, basically rubbing their parents' fame in his face, but out of the four of them, Thomas hated Ruby the most. Why? It was because she lived on a floating island devoid of anything industrial, and where Ruby and her parents basically live like "hippies" getting what they need from the forest. Thomas believed that because Ruby and her family chose to live in a place devoid of technology was an insult to his father who was famous for starting a company that has made many technological breakthroughs.

In reality, Ruby doesn't live entirely without the influence of technology; in the cottage she and Rouge sleep in, the only basic forms of tech they have is a bathroom with indoor plumbing, a flat top griddle in the kitchen and a flat screen tv in the living room. And Rouge is really the only one who uses the tv to watch her favorite shows or the news, the only time Ruby ever used the tv was to watch nature documentaries, every other time she'd spent the day playing in the forest.

Ruby-Emerald sat next to her Chao egg, nuzzling it lovingly with her snout just as she was suddenly approached by Thomas; he stared down at her with a look of contempt, which actually started to scare her. "Um...can I help you with something?", she asked. Thomas sneered as he lunged forward and grabbed her Chao egg, "Hey! Gimme back my Chao egg!", Ruby shouted but Thomas held the egg high above his head while holding her back with his foot. "No! Not until you apologize!", he shouted.

Now Ruby was confused, "Apologize? For what? What did I do? I don't even know you!", she said. This made Thomas angrier, "Exactly! It's because of you and your stupid friends' parents that nobody knows about me, my parents are famous icons of the technology and fashion industry, yet all anyone can talk about is your parents saving the world and maybe the universe. Who cares! And yet, you all act so modest as if you think you're better than me, better than the rest of us!

"Especially you! You plan on spending your life dawdling around on some floating island, protecting some stupid magic rock while the rest of us down here have to stress ourselves out working real jobs. You've got no business thinking you're better than me when your family are nothing but hobos!", he spouted. Now Ruby was getting angry, "Hey! Maybe you need to apologize to me and my friends! It's not our fault our parents are more famous than your parents, we weren't even around when they went on all their adventures, but that doesn't mean you can just insult us and our way of life! If it wasn't for our parents, your parents probably wouldn't even be alive and that means neither would you be. They do an important job so be respectful and grateful!", she said.

Thomas growled angrily, "Respectful and grateful?! You wanna what think of respect? You wanna know what I think?!", he shouted as he threw the Chao egg and it was smashed to pieces on the blacktop. The sound caught the attention of the other kids, who were spectating another race Speedy and Turbo were having, and they rushed over to see what was going on. Ruby's eyes widened as she fell to her knees and stared at splattered mess of egg yolk and shell pieces.

Everything went dark and quiet around her, her heart was racing, there was a sharp ringing in her ears and her breath hitched; Ruby suddenly felt a burning, intense sense of rage as a sudden jolt of energy swarmed through her body.

Back on Angel Island, Knuckles was leaning against the Master Emerald taking a small nap when he suddenly shot awake after feeling a burst of dark energy shoot up his spine; a bright light caught his attention and he turned around to see the Master Emerald was glowing a rather fierce light. "Master Emerald, what's happening? What is this...angry energy I'm feeling radiating from you?", he asked. Knuckles looked into the surface of the Master Emerald as it displayed an image for him to see, and when he saw it, his stomach dropped.

Back on the school playground, Ruby's body began glowing brightly as she trembled; the other children backed away slowly out of fear, Thomas especially, but her friends tried to approach her to see what was wrong. Suddenly a burst of energy erupted from Ruby as her fur changed from pink to dark magenta, her hands were balled up into tight fists, her wings were fully extended and when she lifted her head up, her eyes had turned red.

Everyone backed away fearfully as Ruby turned her gaze towards Thomas, she then flew towards him and punched him square in the face sending him flying through the air and into the swing set; Ruby then started stalking over to him but was blocked by Speedy and Turbo, "Ruby, no! Don't beat up Thomas!", pleaded Speedy. "Yeah, I mean he did break your Chao egg but you can't beat him up! He's just a bully, he's not worth it and if you beat him up, you'll be no better than him!", said Turbo.

Ruby stopped and looked at the twins in frightened confusion, she was almost considering what they said...until Thomas stood up holding his face, picked up a rock and threw it at Ruby. It flew over the twins and smacked harshly against Ruby's forehead, cutting it slightly and causing her to bleed; Ruby growled angrily as she pushed Speedy and Turbo out of the way and flew towards Thomas, she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and started tossing him around like a rag doll.

"Finn, stop her! Before she does something bad!", shouted Turbo. Finn ran towards Ruby and used his illusion power to trapped her inside a red cube; Ruby screamed as she pounded against the sides of the cube, trying to escape but because he had been practicing, Finn's powers were much stronger than when he was a baby and he had more control over them. Ruby continued to try to escape, but soon her energy was spent and she slowly slid down to the floor of the cube, breathing heavily.

An hour later, Rouge was sitting outside of the principal's office along with Thomas' parents; Ruby and Thomas themselves were in the nurse's office because the former had lost consciousness after she had calmed down and the former had a concussion as well as several bruises. The school secretary called them into the room, inside said room stood Sonic and his kids as well as Infinite and his son, "Now then, I've spoken with the children of Mr. Hedgehog and Mr. Jackal. Mr. and Mrs. Mouser, they've informed me that your son was actively antagonizing Mrs. Bat's daughter and then proceeded to vandalize her property by destroying a Chao egg she had brought to school for her Show and Tell project.

"Mrs. Bat, your daughter had then...what I can best describe as...flew into a fit of rage and attacked Thomas. Both of your children have broken several school rules, and we cannot let that slide, but given the circumstances, my final decision on the matter is this: Mrs. Bat, since this is the first time your daughter has broken the rules, her punishment will be one week suspension and one week of detention; Mr. and Mrs. Mouser, this is not the first time your son has been a troublemaker but this time he went too far and so his punishment will be two weeks of suspension and three months of detention. There's no getting around it and I can't stress this enough: if Thomas does something like this one more time, he will be expelled. That is all, you may go", said the principal.

Rouge and Thomas' parents walked over to the nurse's office to collect their children, Thomas walked towards his mother and father while holding an ice pack to his face; his parents looked at him with a mixture of disappointment and concern, they couldn't understand why there son, whom they'd always make the time to be with and whom they loved, would turn out to be such a bully. As they walked away, Rouge walked over to Ruby, who looked up at her mother with a river of tears cascading from her eyes. "Oh baby...it's okay, Mommy's here", Rouge said as she gently picked Ruby up and held her close to body as the young echidna/bat sobbed.

Rouge appeared back home with Ruby after Shadow teleported her there on his way home, as she walked towards her cottage, Knuckles immediately ran towards them. Ruby turned to look at her father, and began crying even harder; she jumped out of Rouge's arms and grabbed Knuckles by the waist, "I'm sorry, Daddy! I'm sorry, I couldn't protect my egg! And then I attacked him...I was so angry! I'm sorry, Daddy!", she sobbed.

Knuckles told Ruby to go to her room while he spoke with Rouge, she explained what happened, that Thomas had smashed her Chao egg and how she flew into a super powered fit of rage and attacked him, before Finn stopped her. Knuckles now realized why the Master Emerald was glowing earlier, "It seems that Ruby has chaos powers now, too. And their tied to the Master Emerald, that's why it's was glowing before; it must've been reacting to her emotions, but then it stopped after she calmed down", he said. Rouge looked towards the cottage in concern, "The poor dear is so scared, and she seems to think the whole thing is her fault. We should go talk to her", she said.

The two of them walked into the cottage and headed towards Ruby's room, where they saw her lying sadly in her bed hugging her pillow; Knuckles and Rouge sat the foot of her bed, looking at her with sadness and concern. "Aww, sweetie its okay. You didn't do anything wrong, it was all that Thomas boy's fault. He shouldn't have been picking on you nor should he have smashed your Chao egg. And as for you attacking him, don't worry about it, you had no control over that. You've got special powers and you just don't how to control them yet, your Daddy can help you get better", said Rouge.

Ruby looked up at her parents and crawled over to them, resting her head on Rouge's lap while Knuckles gently rubbed her head. "Mommy...Daddy...do you still love me?", she asked. Rouge and Knuckles were taken aback, "Ruby, sweetie, of course we still love you. Your mother and I will never stop loving you, no matter what you do. Even after today, your mother and I still love you and we promise to always be there to help you and keep you safe, and if something like this happens again, we'll take care of it", said Knuckles.

Ruby sighed as Knuckles continued to rub her head until she was lulled into a peaceful slumber, Rouge and Knuckles tucked her into bed, giving her a kiss on the forehead before walking out of the room.

Author's Note: That ends for Chapter 13, and now its seems Ruby-Emerald has a dark form of her own but it'll take time for her to learn to control these chaos powers. Next time, a mysterious being observes our heroes and starts moving to conduct some sort of plan, part of which involves trepassing on another dimension. Who is it? What's their plan? Find out next time in Chapter 14; until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	14. Chapter 14

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 14: An Unknown Presence

It was a bright and sunny morning in Green Hill, there was hardly a cloud in the sky and all the little woodland critters were out and about, doing their usual foraging; a bright blue streak of light quickly shot past them, the resulting gust of wind nearly took the leaves off the nearby trees. When the blue streak stopped moving, it was revealed to be Sonic the Hedgehog, but not the one everybody was familar with; this was the smaller and more pudgy Sonic who couldn't speak that came from an alternate dimension.

As he stopped to smell the flowers, he couldn't help but think of his friends back in their home dimension; he hadn't seen them since he was pulled out out his dimension by the Phantom Ruby and helped them in their war against Dr. Eggman. Tiny Sonic, (lets just call him that to avoid any confusion), wondered how they were doing and what they were doing now; as he was about to continue his morning run, the ground beneath his feet started shaking, he lost his balance and fell to the ground.

Suddenly there was a loud thumping noise, as if giant feet were stomping into the ground, which caused it to shake. Just as Tiny Sonic was slowly getting back up onto his feet, a large shadow loomed over him; he looked up at what was making the shadow, trying his best to size it up, but knew he was too small to look intimidating to this giant shadowy figure. "Ah yes, you're exactly what I've been searching for. Minions, capture him at once!", a loud and commanding feminine voice blared out as if speaking through a megaphone.

In an instant, Tiny Sonic found himself surrounded on all sides by more shadowy figures, they weren't as large as the first one but he still felt puny compared to them. But that didn't deter him as he began to spin-dash into them, momentarily knocking them over like bowling pins before they quickly stood up. "Don't let that measly rodent overpower you! Use the serum now before he has the chance to escape!", shouted the female voice.

One of the figures nodded as it pulled out what looked to be a dart gun and aimed it at Tiny Sonic just as he was finished knocking down another of the figures; it pulled the trigger and fired at him, causing him to tense up as he felt a sudden stabbing pain in his backside. Tiny Sonic looked down to see a syringe containing a light purple fluid sticking out of his rear end, and before he could react, the plunger on the syringe lowered, injecting the fluid into his body.

He quickly yanked it out and tossed it aside to continue fighting the mysterious intruders, but before he took take one step, he vision began to blur and distort; Tiny Sonic held his head in his hands as he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness and nausea, and then his face was introduced to the ground as he fell over, landing face first, and his body having gone completely numb. His eyes slowly closed as he finally lost consciousness, "Excellent! You've all done well and will be most rewarded when we get back. For now, restrain him and bring him onboard, we must leave quickly before someone spots us", said the female voice.

The mysterious figures surrounded Tiny Sonic as they placed thick metal cuffs around his wrists and ankles, and placed a strange looking visor over his eyes, before tossing his into a glass containment device. They picked him up and carried him onto what was now revealed to be a large mobile battleship with six pairs of giant mechanical legs, which explains the loud stomping and the ground shaking earlier; a swirling vortex of yellow and green light appeared in front of the ship as it slowly walked through it, the ground shaking once again before the ship disappeared into the vortex and it soon vanished afterwards.

Meanwhile back in the home dimension of the Sonic we all know, Knuckles stood by the Master Emerald that morning, looking over at a particular tree; under the tree was Ruby-Emerald as she laid curled up beneath the shade of tree, not really looking at anything in particular, she was more so staring off into space with a saddened expression.

Knuckles knew she still felt bad about what happened yesterday, a bully of a mouse named Thomas insulted her and her family, and smashed the Chao egg she promised her Dad she'd protect; then her anger caused her to undergo a transformation almost similar to Sonic's dark form and she viciously attacked Thomas before being subdued by Finn.

But rather than being upset with the one who started the fight, Ruby was upset with herself for failing at being a guardian and for attacking someone; Knuckles tried to tell her it wasn't her fault and that these things happen, but Ruby was less than convinced. So he decided that spending time with a friend would help her out of her funk; Knuckles walked into their cabin and picked up the phone, dialing a number and waiting for it to pick up.

"Hello?", said a voice that sounded like Sonic when the phone picked up. "Hey Sonic, it's Knuckles. Listen, I was calling to ask if Ruby can come over and play with the twins. She's still upset about what happened yesterday and I figured a play date with friends would help cheer her up", said Knuckles. "Ooh, Knuckles you called at a really bad time! The twins can't be around anyone right now because they've begun the Quilling Process, you remember when I told you and Tails about that, right? It's when a hedgehog sheds their baby spines and new ones grow in, and...also how very painful and uncomfortable it is.

"So yeah because of that, the twins are super grouchy and cranky, and they're stuck in bed because the pain is too much for them to move. And I'm over here alternating between comforting them and picking up their shedded spines, and taking care of SJ. So Ruby can't come over, she'll have no one to play with and I really can't watch anyone else's kids right now, sorry man", said Sonic.

Knuckles let out a sigh, "No it's alright, I understand. After all, I was there when you started Quilling, you gave both Tails and I a hard time with all the moaning and griping you did so I won't bug you on that. I'll see if Infinite will let Finn come over", he said before hanging up. Knuckles then dialed Nyx's phone number and waited for her to answer, "Hello, Dr. Snowfall speaking, who may I say is calling?", she asked.

"Wow aren't you formal? Anyway it's me, Knuckles. I was wondering if you and Infinite were cool with me dropping off Ruby so she could play with Finn, she needs cheering up after what happened yesterday", said Knuckles. "I'm sorry Knuckles, but you see...Levi was finally discharged from the Rehabilitation Center today and to celebrate, Infinite decided to take him out to the beach with Tempest, Finn, Orbot, Cubot and Metal Sonic. The only reason I'm not there is because I had to work overtime today, I'm sorry for that", she said.

Knuckles sighed in defeat, "Its fine. I'll just call Silver and see if he'd let Maria come over or if I can bring Ruby over there, thanks anyway Nyx", he said. Before he could dial Shadow's home phone number, there was a flash of red light just outside his window; Knuckles went outside to see Maria standing there holding the red Chaos Emerald and wearing a black and pink knapsack on her back. "Maria? What are you doing here? How did you get here?", he asked.

Maria smiled, "Well one, my father has been teaching how to do Chaos Control and I finally did it right! I can't wait for him to teach me how to use Chaos Spear, oh and Uncle Sonic called Dad and told him about your issue with Ruby. Since I'm not doing anything today and it is Saturday, Dad gave me permission to come here and spend some time with Ruby", she explained.

Knuckles smiled as her walked over to the young hedgehog, "Well she's sitting by that tree over there. See if you can cheer her up, I hate seeing her so sad", he said. Maria walked over to Ruby and sat herself next to her, "Hey there, Kiddo. How you feeling today?", she asked in a rather cheerful voice. Ruby simply ignored her and continued to stare into space with a melancholy expression on her face.

Maria pouted and turned away, reaching into her knapsack and pulling out several toys and started playing with them; this caught Ruby's attention and she looked to see the toys. They were a bunch of toy fairies, each one with bright colorful hair and cute dresses with little symbols on the corner of them, "What are those, Maria?", she asked. Maria blushed in embarrassment as she turned to her friend, "Okay...this is kinda embarrassing but...I'm a big fan of the cartoon "My Tiny Fairy". Its a show about six fairy girls who go on adventures, fight monsters and teach the viewers lessons about friendship, I know it's for younger kids but I really love it", she said.

Ruby looked down at the dolls and picked one up, it was a white horse with a yellow mane, a horn on its head and wings on its back. "Who is this?", she asked. "That's Sunny Skies, the winged unicorn", said Maria as she held up a fairy doll with purple and blue hair and wearing a light purple dress with yellow stars on the corner of it, "This fairy, Twinkle Star, who is my favorite character by the way, found her as a foal abandoned and alone in the Dark Forest when she was a child. Twinkle's teacher, Princess Morning Glory, told her to keep the young foal and raise her, and they've been best friends since".

Ruby smiled, "Can you tell me more about it?", she asked. Maria smiled, knowing that she was slowly getting Ruby to lighten up and began telling her all about her favorite cartoon. From where he stood near the Master Emerald, Knuckles smiled as he watched his daughter's eyes light up with joy as Maria recounted her favorite episodes of her favorite cartoon; he sighed and leaned back, resuming his task of guarding the Master Emerald. What he didn't notice was a small bee landing on top of the Emerald, staring intently at him.

Meanwhile at Sonic's house, Sonic was in SJ's room with his youngest son lying on the changing table as he changed his diaper; he tossed the dirty diaper into a nearby trashcan and sprinkled some baby powder onto SJ's bottom before putting a clean diaper on him.

"Daddy!"

Sonic heard Turbo calling out to him from his and Speedy's room, he placed SJ into his bouncy swing chair and put on an episode of Cashew Avenue for the baby hedgehog before going to see what his other son needed; Sonic walked into the room and almost tripped on the shedded blue and pink quills that littered the floor. Sonic made a mental note to vacuum up the quills later, he couldn't do it now because his children were asleep.

Well, Speedy was asleep, curled up under her rocket ship printed quilt whimpering slightly due to the discomfort she felt because of the Quilling; Turbo looked up at his father with a pained expression, "What's wrong, son?", asked Sonic. "Dad...my back itches! Can you scratch it, please?", Turbo asked. Sonic smiled sadly at his son before walking over, taking the glove off his right hand and began to gently scrap his nails along his son's back; Turbo sighed in content before slowly drifting back to sleep.

Sonic tucked his son under his blanket and quietly walked out of the room, leaving the door partially open in case one them called out to him for something; he went back to the nursery and sat next to his infant son in order for him to take a break to relax and to keep the little kit company. It wasn't easy for him to be the stay-at-home parent when he had three children but he and Amy both knew he was the only one of the two of them who was fast enough to keep up with their twins.

SJ giggled as he saw his father sitting next to him before turning his attention back to the colorful puppets on the TV; the two were so distracted that they didn't notice the bee flying in through the window and landing on top of the toy chest, watching them silently.

At the beach, Infinite and his family were enjoying themselves in the sunshine; Tempest laid out on a picnic blanket under an umbrella while Finn and Metal Sonic were building a large sand castle, Orbot and Cubot were buried up to their necks in the sand, and Infinite and Levi were swimming in the ocean. Another bee flew around the group, but Tempest noticed it and swatted it with the rolled up magazine she was reading; the bee fell onto the ground and thrashed about before rolling back onto its thin legs and stared at the group.

And these weren't the only ones, there was a bee in Shadow and Silver's house staring at the ivory hedgehog as he watched his favorite foreign soap opera "Amor Peligroso", there were two inside of G.U.N headquarters watching Shadow and Rouge as they sat in the break room having lunch and talking; there was a bee in the hospital watching Nyx as she was performing a checkup on a young otter boy, and there was one inside Amy's office watching her as she was trying to design an advert for shampoo.

What none of them knew was that every single one of these bees were actually tiny robots and their eyes were small cameras observing our heroes, in a rather dark and unknown place, a tall mysterious figure sat in a throne like chair watched them on a large monitor that was spilt into several smaller screens; each of the small screens focused on a particular person like Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow and so on, the figure stared at them with great interest visible in their oval shaped red eyes.

"Hmmm, yes. They're perfect!", said the mysterious figure. A smaller figure with glowing blue eyes walked up to them, "Shall I lead a squadron to capture them, my queen?", it asked. "No...at least, not yet. I still have to make modifications to the machine, it's far from complete but our technology is quite limited. We need someone to help complete it if my plan is to reach its potential", the taller figure said.

She directed her attention to one of the monitors, one of her tiny bee robots was fluttering around the inside of a cell on Prison Island; inside the cell was Dr. Eggman lying on his bunk reading a book and looking quite complacent, as if he was now accepting of the fact that his last scheme of world domination had failed and, at this point, he's come to realize that nothing he comes up with will ever take down Sonic and his friends.

Hell, he even kept Sonic prisoner and tortured him for six months, and even that didn't stop the hedgehog from fighting back and defeating him. So now Eggman was completely fine with where he was as he had given up and decided to finally accept the consequences of his actions, which in this case was life imprisonment with no chance of parole.

The mysterious figure smiled wickedly as she watched Eggman, "Ah yes...he's made several attempts to defeat the hedgehog, he's even captured him once. And, for a hairless biped, he is quite intelligent and is capable of finishing the work on the machine. Send a squadron out to infiltrate the prison and bring him here to me, and...don't take 'no' for an answer when you tell him where he's going", she said.

The small figure saluted before running off to gather more of them, they boarded onto a small ship and opened a portal to fly through and enter the other dimension. Back on Prison Island, it was lights out for all the inmates; Eggman laid on his bunk sleeping when suddenly the wall of his cell exploded inward, sending debris flying everywhere and causing the security alarms to go off.

Eggman abruptly sat up to see who had busted into his cell: the small figures were then revealed to be small anthropomorphic wasps but unlike Charmy, they looked more menacing and closer to their normal insect counterparts; they were platinum armor and carried lances that had spheres on one end rather than spearheads, and the only thing that distinguished them from one another was their eye colors.

The leader, who was slightly taller and wore golden body armor, walked up to Eggman. "You, biped with great intelligence, have been summoned by our queen to come to our home dimension and, under her command, work to finish construction on a device she will use to achieve her goal of dimensional domination!", he said. Eggman shrugged him off and went back to lie down on his bed, "Yeah...no thanks. I've given up on that thing already, after trying that for years and failing miserably each and every time, it loses its appeal. Go find another genius", he said.

The leader smirked darkly before pointing his lance at Eggman, a beam of red light erupted from the sphere end and came in contact with his body, paralyzing him. "What...? What's going on? I can't move!", he said. The lead wasp let out a dry laugh, "Yes, the queen said you might refused but she also wanted us to make it clear that we don't take 'no' for an answer. Let me make this clear to you, biped: you have no choice in the matter! Serve our queen and you will survive, maybe even be well rewarded but disobey and you shall be swiftly and severely punished!", he said.

The lead wasp and his squadron marched back into their ship with the captured doctor in tow; they boarded and flew through another portal they opened up, by the time the prison guards arrived to Eggman's cell, Eggman and the insects had already disappeared without a trace.

Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 14, and I apologize for taking so long to update but again I don't always have the time to update my story. Anyway, a new threat has made itself known by spying on our heroes and kidnapping Eggman; who is this mysterious queen and her legion of insect minions? What is this machine she was talking about? What's her plan and how will this affect our heroes and their families? Find out next time in Chapter 15; until next time, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	15. Chapter 15

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 15: Movie Night Crashed

Sonic was standing in front of his bathroom mirror, combing his quills as he got ready; he and his friends were going out that night to see a movie. The movie they were seeing was "Lord Draco: Slayer of Demons", it was an action/fantasy movie about an anthropomorphic dragon boy who learns of his true destiny of being a demon slayer and the true king of his homeland, and the adventure he goes on to fulfill his destiny.

The group was also planning on leaving their kids with a babysitter on Angel Island so they could keep an eye on both the children and the Master Emerald because Knuckles also wanted to see the movie and his friends kept pestering him to take a break from guarding it and have some fun.

"Alright kids, Uncle Shadow will be here in a few minutes so he can Chaos Control you over to Angel Island while we go to the movies", said Sonic as he walked into the living room where Speedy and Turbo were sitting while SJ sat in his baby carrier. The twins became excited, "Can we see the movie too, Daddy?", asked Speedy. Sonic gave them an incredulous look, "Um...no! You two are eleven years old, you're both way too young to see a movie that has a warning of intense violence, harsh language and maybe one or two scenes of nudity", he said in a stern voice.

The twins were both disappointed and confused, "But then why is Maria allowed to go see it?! We heard her talking about her Dads taking her to see it", said Turbo. "Because the movie is rated PG-13, as in children under the age of thirteen cannot see that movie and even thirteen year olds need parental supervision to see it. Since Maria is thirteen, Shadow and Silver said she can go see the movie with them. You two are far too young to see it, but don't worry: when you're older, I'll buy the movie on DVD so you can watch it", said Sonic.

Speedy and Turbo pouted, "But Dad...we wanna see the movie too! Come on, PLEASE!", they pleaded/shouted in rather whiny voices. Sonic had enough and did what he always did to properly discipline his children: he changed into his werehog form and roared at the two young hedgehogs, effectively scaring them.

Sonic was known to be a little lenient on his kids as he wasn't a strict parent, but he knew that he needed to enforce his rules to make sure his kids didn't turn into spoiled brats; now he never yelled at or even hit them as Sonic didn't want to be or be seen as an abusive parent, so he decided to use his werehog form to scare them into behaving properly since he did look quite scary in that form and it was enough for them to either stop fighting with each other or stop whining when they were told 'no' about something.

"Sorry for scaring you, kiddos. But when I say 'no', that's the end of the conversation and what I say is final. You're too young to see this movie, I'll get you the DVD of it when you're older, end of story! Now get ready, Shadow will be here any minute", said Sonic as he changed back to normal.

Sighing in defeat, the twins went upstairs to get their sleeping bags; right on schedule, Shadow appeared inside the living room. "Hey there you are, Shadow. Well the twins are getting their stuff and SJ's baby bag is all packed up", said Sonic. Shadow smiled as he reached down and grabbed the baby bag before picking up the carrier that held SJ, the twins came speeding down the stairs with backpacks on their backs as they walked over the hold Shadow by the hands.

"I'll meet up with you and the others at the theater after I drop them off. Now then, hold on to me tight, kids", said Shadow as he pulled out his green Chaos Emerald and Chaos Controlled to Angel Island. As it turned out, the kids were being watched by the Chaotix as they were certified babysitters; Finn and Ruby were already there playing tag with Vector and Charmy, Gadget was in Ruby's house making dinner for the kids and Espio sat meditating on the alter of the Master Emerald as he took it upon himself to guard it.

They stopped their game when they saw Shadow arrive with Speedy, Turbo and SJ, "Hey you finally made it. We've been waiting for you", said Vector. Shadow set SJ's carrier and baby bag over by the alter and let the twins run to join their friends. "There's plenty of diapers in SJ's baby bag, he eats two jars of apple/banana/carrot mash and one bottle of milk every four hours and don't lie him on his stomach when you put him to sleep. As for the twins, just make sure they don't hurt themselves and don't give them too much sugar. Amy said if you have any questions, just text her", said Shadow before he teleported away.

"So, what are you guys doing?", asked Turbo. "We were about to play 'Dino Riders', you know like the cartoon", said Finn. The twins were confused, "Um...dinosaurs are extinct. Remember?", asked Speedy. Finn rolled his eyes as he snapped his fingers, summoning a cluster of red cubes that circled the air until they formed a bright yellow velociraptor.

"Ohh, we kind of forgot you can do that", the twins said in unison. Finn smirked as he reached up and scratched the velociraptor on the chin, "Now do you guys wanna play 'Dino Riders'?", he asked. Before they could respond, Gadget walked out of the hut holding a baking pan. "Before you kids play, wouldn't you like some dinner first? Its homestyle macaroni and cheese, you know, the kind with the crunchy bits on top of it", he said.

The kids smiled wildly as they all gathered at the picnic table the Chaotix set up as Gadget passed around paper plates and plastic forks, and then proceeded to scoop the macaroni and cheese onto the plates; the kids politely thanked Gadget for the food before tucking into their meal as Vector went around the table pouring glasses of grape juice and placing them next to the kids' plates.

Meanwhile at the movie theater, the others were seated in the auditorium waiting for the previews to end and the movie to start. "Thanks for convincing me to come, guys. I needed to take a break from guarding the Master Emerald for a bit", said Knuckles. Sonic smiled as he took a bite out of his chili dog, "No problem, Knux. I, out of all of us, thought you needed to take a breather", he said. Amy pulled out her cellphone and was about to dial when Sonic stopped her, "Ames...please tell you're not calling Vector right now. Like, right as the announcer is telling us to turn off our phones", he said.

"I just wanna check in and see how the kids are doing. Vector hasn't called at all", she said. "Amy, I told him to call you if he has any questions regarding your kids. If he hasn't called its obviously because he doesn't have any questions, stop worrying so much and just sit back and enjoy the movie", said Shadow. Amy sighed as she turned off her phone and placed it back in her purse.

An hour later, back on Angel Island, the kids were riding on the backs of Finn's illusion dinosaurs before they all got tired and decided to take a break; Charmy set up a campfire for them to roast marshmallows over. The entire group sat around the fire roasting the marshmallows and making s'mores; the sound of a hooting owl could be heard from within the forest, causing Gadget to flinch.

Espio, who sat near him holding SJ as he bottlefed him, gave his boyfriend a reassuring smile. "Calm yourself, its merely an owl", he said. Gadget looked down in embarrassment, "I know, I'm sorry. I just...I've lived in a city for my whole life that I just get so freaked out in the woods", he said. "That reminds me of this really scary story I heard once", said Vector. "Awesome! Tell it, Uncle Vector", said Finn. "Are you sure? Because the story I'm thinking about is pretty hardcore", said Vector. "Oooh, we're so scared!", taunted Charmy.

"Okay but don't say I didn't warn you. One night, a lot like this one..."

Meanwhile in the strange new dimension, a small anthropomorphic wasp wearing an odd pair of glasses and holding a clipboard flew into what appeared to be a throne room. "What have you to report to me today?", said a loud enigmatic female voice which was now revealed to be an anthropomorphic wasp about ten feet tall; she had bright red stripes instead of black, red eyes, and was wearing a crown and a flowing purple cape.

"My Queen, the human mammal has been taken to the laboratory to work on your machine. And also, the nursemaids are in the nesting chamber and they have something quite amazing and unexpected to show you", said the small male wasp creature. The queen rose from her throne and made her way towards the nesting chamber, which was a rounded room with yellowish green slime covering the walls, floor and ceiling. On the floor were large bowl shaped structures that held ten glowing blue eggs in each of them.

A small group of female wasp creatures wearing nurse uniforms gathered together as one of them held a strange looking baby: it looked almost like a Mobian, specifically like a cat or lion; it had bright orange fur, dark purple hair, yellow eyes and white fur going from its chest to its stomach. It also had a pair of long antennae on its head, a pair of translucent dragonfly esque wings on it's back and two spindly insect arms sticking out of its body just below it's normal arms.

The nurses looked at the infant with happy smiles, "So this was the only grub that would hatch from the royal egg cluster, Flora?", one particularly short nurse asked the one holding the baby. She looked down sadly, "Yes, I'm afraid. None of the other royal eggs would hatch, they were all stillborn", she said.

One of the other nurses, who was quite round and pudgy, looked upon the child, "Queen Vespa had shedded her exoskeleton a month ago and noticed several wrinkles in it, they were evidence of her approaching old age. As beautiful and strong as she is, she is very much aware that she won't live forever. That odd looking child is her only heir", she said.

Just then, the little insect/cat-like baby began crying. "Now now, don't cry little one. You're alright. I nearly forgot: we haven't given him a name yet", said the nurse who held him as she rocked him gently to calm him down.

"Fluke".

The nurses gasped as they turned around to see Queen Vespa standing before them in all her glory, they bowed respectfully as she gazed upon the child. "He shall be known as Prince Fluke, heir to my throne. I have laid many eggs but they've all hatched into ordinary Hornetites, just more soldiers to add to my army. But since I've started...experimenting with our Hobidon slaves, I now have an heir; true that fornication with mammals may taint our pure Insectoid genes, but 'tis a small price to pay to ensure that death from old age won't interfere with my plans.

"And yes, I am growing old but I plan to use the time I have left to enact my plan of dimensional domination and then once my time comes, my son shall rule in my place. Please raise him and teach him our ways, seeing as he is a hybrid, he'll most certainly age faster than most grubs and he'll need to learn a lot about being a king; guard and protect him with your very lives. Our future as the dominant species of this and other dimensions depends on it", she said as she left the room.

The nurses looked down at their newly crowned prince with happy smiles, "Do you hear her Highness? You're a very special baby, little one", said the nurse who held him. Queen Vespa made her way out of the nesting chamber and walked through the hallway of her castle towards a room with a metal door; the interior of the room resembled a science lab except the technology looked far more advanced than any seen on either Earth or Mobius.

There were computers that consisted of three monitors and large control panels, on another side of the room were large rounded tanks filled with bright green liquid and strange looking insect/fish-like creatures floating inside them; off to another corner were examination tables where more of those strange cat creatures, or 'Hobidons' as Queen Vespa had called them, were strapped down to them.

Some of them looked sickly and unconscious while others were quivering in fear and trying to break free, one of them was even screaming for help before a Hornetite in a white lab coat placed a face mask over his nose and mouth, a thick purple gas was pumped into his face rendering him unconscious.

And finally in a large alcove at the back of the room was a large, unfinished machine with several wires and rubber tubes hanging off it; near the machine, several Hornetite soldiers were restraining Dr. Eggman by his wrists and ankles with glowing metal chains that were long enough to allow movement but were strong enough to keep him from escaping.

Queen Vespa looked at the scene in amusement, "Well well, it seems my soldiers have shown you to your new work station", she said. Eggman looked up at her with a mixture of confusion and anger, "What's the meaning of this? I already told your little stooges that I'm done with world domination, I've already been given a life sentence, and I'd like to at least spend it relaxing in my cell and trying to forget my mess of a life!", he shouted in indignation.

The lead soldier, the tall one with golden battle armor, rammed the butt of his spear into Eggman's stomach, forcing him to bend over from the pain. "Watch your mouth in front of our queen, mammal! You should feel honored that she selected you for such an illustrious role in her plans", he said.

Queen Vespa smiled as she patted the golden clad soldier on the head, "That's my second-in-command, Yellow Jacket. He is the general of my army, they don't make a move unless he says to and he won't tell them anything unless I say so. Now then, Eggman, I've seen your work in your dimension: building machines and weapons to fight a blue hedgehog, and take over your world. And while you've failed to do so, I am impressed with your achievements in technology and thus, you will work on the machines I shall use to conquer your dimension and cement myself as Supreme Empress!

"Both devices are nowhere near finished and I honestly don't expect you to be done within a day or so, but it matters little to me. I can be a patient Insectoid and I've recently birthed an heir to my throne, so I don't care if it takes you weeks, months or even years to finish the machine. I can wait and besides, with that 300 IQ of yours, it shouldn't be difficult for you to finish but my royal scientists and technicians have been ordered by me to give you assistance if needed.

"Also, don't get any foolish ideas about escaping. I have assigned ten armed guards to watch you every second of every day, and they will also rotate shifts so that there will be another set of guards to watch you while the first rest. And those restraints are designed to deliver a painful yet nonlethal electric shock through your body if you try to break free. So with that said, Yellow Jacket! Select the first set of guards to watch over Eggman while he works on the machine, if he request food or lavatory breaks, give them to him but watch him closely! Then meet me in the briefing room", Queen Vespa said as she left the laboratory.

Yellow Jacket smirked as he assigned ten of his soldiers to watch Dr. Eggman as he picked up a toolbox and began to, reluctantly, work on the machines; he then made his way to the briefing room where Queen Vespa sat a the head of a round table surrounded by her advisers. "Eggman is working on the machines, your highness. What do you wish for me to do next?", he said as he bowed in respect.

"I want you to take a party of your best warriors, preferably twenty or thirty so, take the dimensional transport ship and go capture the power sources. Now that Eggman is constructing the machines, we need to more on to the next stage of our plans. Take the dart guns instead of your spears, I want them alive and unharmed, it is necessary for my plan to work. Kill them, even accidentally, and I'll have your head Yellow Jacket!", she commanded.

Yellow Jacket bowed before leaving the room; he gathered together twenty of his best soldiers, commanded them to grab dart guns and board the transport ship. "Set a course for Sector 173-934!", he ordered the pilots as they typed in the coordinates. A laser cannon at the front of the ship shot a beam into the sky, opening a blue and yellow vortex before they activated the engines and flew into the portal.

"So suddenly, they started hearing this tap tap tapping on the side of the car. The girls started to freak out and by this time, even the guy was getting a bit scared, so he turned on the car and he stepped on it! When they got back to the girls' house, she opened the door and scream! Because there...hanging on the door handle...was the bloodied hook!"

Back on Angel Island, Vector was coming to the end of his scary story and everyone else was completely terrified by this point: Speedy and Turbo held each other as they quivered in fear, Ruby had her body wrapped in her floral printed blanket where you could only see her face, Finn held a large teddy bear he conjured with his powers close to his chest, Charmy shaking while trying not to drop his s'more and Gadget cuddled close to Espio for comfort. Espio was the only one who wasn't scared, he sat there holding both his boyfriend and a sleeping SJ, and he was trying not to doze off from how bored he was by Vector's story.

"They say...that this killer is still alive...lurking in these very woods. He could be just about anywhere, really...maybe even right...HERE!", Vector shouted as he pulled up his right hand which was now a hook. Everyone screamed in fear as they hid behind a brick wall Finn suddenly created, they all peeked out and saw Vector laughing as he removed the hook from his hand revealing it to be fake.

"Vector! That wasn't funny!", shouted Gadget as he blushed in embarrassment. Vector snorted, "Oh yes it was! I just wish I had my camera with me, I could've recorded your reactions! Hahahaha!", he said. Espio, who had stood up and placed SJ in his carrier, walked over to Gadget and gave him a hug and a kiss to calm him down. "Well Vector, if you're done gloating, it's time we get the kids to bed. Don't worry, I'll tell you all a much better story. One that won't give nightmares", he said. The kids calmed down and started to settle into their sleeping bags as Espio sat in front of them and began telling his story.

"This is the story of a half demon and a young girl who could travel between the past and present..."

Meanwhile at the movie theater, Sonic and the others were just leaving as the movie had ended. "Well, I thought it was pretty good", said Silver. "That battle scene at the end was awesome!", said Sonic. "I loved the part where Draco confessed his love for Penelope before discovering his hidden powers", said Amy. "And the twist near the middle of the movie where he found out that his father was alive and leading the resistence, and that his brother was working for the Dark Lord was insane! I didn't see it coming!", said Infinite.

Shadow looked down at his wrist watch and saw that it was 11:48pm, "Its really late. We should go collect our kids and go home", he said. The others nodded in agreement but before Shadow could take them to Angel Island, a loud whooshing noise caught their attention; they looked up to see a blue and yellow vortex open up in the sky. A large metal ship emerged from the portal, the few civilians out and about at that time ran and hid in fear while Sonic and the others bravely stood their ground.

Three metal rods protruded from the bottom of the ship, steadying it as it landed on the ground; a door opened beneath the ship and a staircase slid out, stretching from the opening down to the floor. Out of the doorway stepped Yellow Jacket as he looked down at Sonic and his friends, smirking as he walked down the staircase with his soldiers following close behind him.

He then stopped to address them, "You right mammals! You have been forcefully invited to the kingdom of Queen Vespa, leader of the Hornetites and ruler of the Insectoid Nation. You've been selected specifically to be a part of her plan to dominate this dimension! And if you do come quietly, then we will force you!", he said as his soldiers held their dart guns at the ready.

Infinite scoffed as he conjured a Wispon for Nyx to use, "Well...then I guess you'll just have to force us because my friends and I don't surrender to fools who desire to take over our home", he said as the group took battle stances. Yellow Jacket sneered, "So be it, then. We tried to do things the easy way but as usual, you mammals are so simpleminded and brutish. Soldiers...ATTACK!", he shouted as his warriors charged forward while he hung back and watched.

Shadow turned towards his daughter, "Maria, go hid behind that bench! We'll take care off this", he said pointing to a nearby park bench. Maria nodded as she ducked behind the bench, noticing that none of the wasp creatures went after her, which meant she wasn't their intended target; Shadow turned back around as they charged at the bugs.

Sonic spin-dashed forward, slamming into three of the soldiers, knocking them senseless; Amy batted a few with her hammer while Nyx shot at some with her Wispon. Knuckles and Rouge assaulted a small group of bugs with punches and kicks, Shadow shot at them with his Chaos Spears, and Silver lifted some into the air and slammed them onto the ground with his psychokinesis.

Just as Yellow Jacket was about to shout out a command, Infinite lunged forward and slashed at him with his red sword; Yellow Jacket was able to dodge and deflect the attack with his dart gun, "So you just sit back here and let your men fight while you watch? You're either a weakling or a coward or maybe both, but then again, with the exception of Charmy, bugs are pretty weak", said Infinite.

Yellow Jacket paused for a moment, which confused Infinite; he stood still and watched him closely. Yellow Jacket shook with rage before screaming and striking Infinite across the head, knocking him out. "Soldiers, enough dawdling! Take them out already!", he shouted. The soldiers all nodded as they pointed their dart guns at Sonic and the others; the first dart fired zoomed towards Silver but Shadow jumped in the way and it pierced his hip.

Shadow gasped in pain as the dart pumped a dark purple liquid into his body, he suddenly felt sick and nauseous before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and fell onto the ground unconscious. As Silver tried to wake him up, a dart stabbed him in the back and he passed out as well; Rouge tried kicking away the darts that flew at her, which worked for the moment before one flew into her blindspot, jabbing her in the shoulder.

Knuckles punched out a soldier that tried to shoot him and kicked another, but the one he punched threw dirt into his face, blinding him long enough for the soldiers to shoot him in the chest; Amy tried to block the darts with her hammer and Nyx shot the darts with her Wispon, so the two soldiers shooting at them threw these tiny black pellets at them, causing smoke to erupt and forcing the girls to cough as their eyes watered, leaving them open to be shot down.

Only Sonic was left standing, he was in his werehog form and slapping the soldiers around like they were beanbags; he actually had been shot about four times but hadn't fallen unconscious yet, most likely the Dark Gaia energy in his body was fighting back against the foreign substance, but even then he could feel the fluid flowing through his veins and slowly weakening him. Sonic slashed at two more soldiers before one snuck up behind him and shot him with another dart, this time he couldn't fight it anymore and fell over.

Sonic's vision went blurry and his head swam, but he could vaguely see Yellow Jacket ordering his warriors to restrain his unconscious wife and friends, and loading them into glass orbs before carrying them onto the ship; Sonic tried to fight the strong pull of sleep was rendering him unconscious but he finally gave in and passed out, four soldiers approached him and restrained him, tossing him into a glass orb as well.

Maria, who was watching the whole thing, angrily ran after them. "Chaos Spear!", she shouted as she fired a yellow arrow of chaos energy at them. The Chaos Spear collided with Yellow Jacket's face, leaving a bloody scar across his left eyes, one of his subordinates lifted his gun and shot Maria in the leg with a dart, causing her to fall over. Due to being a child, Maria found herself quickly succumbing to the effects of the purple fluid.

Before Maria had slipped into unconsciousness, she could faintly hear Yellow Jacket talking to her. "Consider yourself lucky that you're not one of the mammals her majesty needs, child. Otherwise I'd take my time making you suffer for damaging my face, but we got what we need and you're not worth our time. Relish your freedom while you have it because when our queen's plan is complete, you will serve our whims!", he shouted before entering the ship. Maria watched through halflidded eyes as the ship opened up another portal and flew through it before her eyes finally closed.

"And then the girl and the half demon got married, with the girl choosing to live five hundred years in the past. The end".

Back on Angel Island, Espio finished telling his story to the kids and they had a much better reaction to it: they all had smiles on their faces as their eyelids drooped and yawns escaped their mouths. "That was a nice story, Uncle Espio", Ruby said sleepily. "I liked the little fox demon kid, he's really funny", said Speedy. "And the demon slayer and her pet demon cat was cool", said Turbo. Finn let out a yawn, "I just wish that monk wasn't such a creepy pervert! I mean, it's sad that he was cursed but it's not cool being a creeper around girls", he said.

Espio smiled as he tucked the kids into their sleeping bags, their eyes slowly closing and they drifted off to dreamland; he turned towards the others to see Gadget and Charmy lying on their own sleeping bags, snoring. "Why don't you go to sleep too, Espio? I'll watch the Master Emerald for ya, don't worry, I took a nap earlier so I'm wide awake", said Vector. Espio smiled gratefully as he let out a yawn and laid down on the sleeping bag next to Gadget, falling asleep while cuddling him.

With that, the small group of children drifted off to sleep and Vector sat in front of the Master Emerald while playing a mobile game on his cell phone, and they were all completely unaware of what happened to their friend or their parents.

Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 15, and we have finally been introduced to our main villain; find out what happens next in Chapter 16. Until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	16. Chapter 16

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 16: Discovery & Rescue Mission

The next morning, on Angel Island, Ruby-Emerald awoke to the sound of Flickies chirping in the trees as she usually did; she yawned and rubbed the grit from her eyes as she looked around, that was when she realized something was wrong. Her friends were all still around her, sleeping in their sleeping bags as were her babysitters; her parents told her they'd come home late and her friends' parents would pick them up, but they were still there and she didn't see her parents.

Ruby stood up and ran over to Vector, who was leaning against the Master Emerald snoring his head off. "Uncle Vector! Something's wrong, my parents aren't here and the others weren't picked up by their parents!", she said as she shook him awake. Vector quickly woke up as he realized she was right, he told her to go wake up everyone else as he pulled out his cellphone and dialed Amy's phone number.

"Hi, you've reached Amy Rose. Please leave a message after the beep, BEEP! Tee hee".

Vector was stunned by the fact that the phone went straight to voicemail, he tried calling Sonic but it was the same; Vector tried calling the others but all their phones went to voicemail immediately, he looked around and saw his friends and the kids waking up, and looking around in confusion. "Hey, why am I still here? Mom and Dad said they'd pick me after the movie was done", said Finn. Speedy and Turbo looked around in confusion, wondering where their parents were also; even baby SJ noticed the absence of his parents and began crying until Gadget reached down to pick him up.

"What is going on here? I doubt Sonic and the others would forget to pick up their children, something is not right here", said Espio. Just then, they heard the sound of an engine coming close before shutting off; they looked up to see it was Tails in the X Tornado, "Tails? What are you doing here?", asked Charmy. "I'm guessing you've noticed that Sonic and the others didn't come back from their movie last night. Hop in and I'll explain when we get to my workshop", he said. "Vector, you and Charmy go with Tails and find out what's going on. Gadget and I will stay here, and look after the children and the Master Emerald", said Espio.

Vector nodded as he and Charmy jumped into the X Tornado and Tails flew them to his workshop; they hopped out and rushed inside to find Tempest, Levi, Orbot, Cubot and Metal Sonic all standing around an examination table. On the table laid an unconscious Maria, "What happened to her?!", shouted Vector. "A mailman was delivering a package when he found her lying on the ground passed out with no sign of Shadow, Silver or anyone else around. He brought her here and I took a look at her and found this", said Tails.

He then held up the dart that Maria was shot with, a small amount of the purple fluid was still inside it. "I analyzed the liquid and it turns out it's a very strong sedative cocktail, I'm actually surprised that Maria is even still breathing because after analyzing it further, I found out this stuff is powerful enough to knock out a full grown rhinoceros", he said. "Alright Tails, but that doesn't explain why she was found lying on the ground or where the others are", said Tempest.

Just then, Maria suddenly shot awake; she sat there breathing heavily until she looked up at her surroundings and realized she was in Tails' home/workshop. "Uncle Tails? How...how'd I get in your house?", she asked in confusion. "A mailman found you unconscious in town with this dart in your leg. Maria, where are your Dads and what happened to you?", said Tails. Maria racked her brain as she tried to remember what happened last night, and that's when it came flooding back.

"Tails! While we were leaving the movie theater last night, a ship full of these bug soldiers came through a portal and attacked my Dads and their friends. They fought back but then the bugs shot them with darts that knocked them out, and as they were loading them onto their ship, I tried to fight back using my Chaos Spear but then they shot me and I passed out. Those bugs took my Dads and their friends, Tails! We have to save them!", she said.

Tails let the information soak in as he called Espio and told him everything Maria told him; about two hours later, they were all gathered together on Angel Island to discuss what to do next. "I think I can create a portal machine for us to travel through, I can use the Chaos Emeralds to power it. It might take a while but it shouldn't be hard", said Tails. "Alright, so when do we get going?", asked Maria.

Tempest turned to her with a stern expression, "We are going as soon as Tails is done with the portal machine, you kids are staying here with Levi, Gadget and the three Robo-bros. If you guys honestly thought we'd bring you with us on this mission, you're sadly mistaken; it's too dangerous for you little squirts", she said. Maria grunted in frustration and went to sit where the other kids were, they also had equally frustrated scowls on their faces after hearing they couldn't join in to rescue their parents.

Meanwhile in a large room lit by bright blue lights, Shadow groaned as he felt someone shaking him by the shoulder; he struggled for a bit to open his heavy eyelids before he looked to see it was Silver who woke him up. The two looked around to see Sonic and Amy, Knuckles and Rouge, and Nyx and Infinite in the room with them; they were all waking up as well, although Sonic took much longer to wake up.

They all noticed they were inside the strange room, and that's when they noticed that there were thick metal cuffs on their wrists with some sort of rope of blue electricity connecting them together, limiting their arm movement. "Ow...my head hurts...what happened?", said Knuckles in disorientation. "I remember fighting off a bunch of bees...in armor...but then everything went dark", said Nyx.

Suddenly the sound of a metal door opening caught their attention, they looked to see where the door was opening and in walked Queen Vespa who was flanked by Yellow Jacket and another unnamed soldier on either sides of her body; she looked down at them with a glint of greed in her eyes while they all looked at her in suspicion. "Bow before her glorious royal majesty, Queen Vespa! Bow before her, you feeble mammals!", shouted Yellow Jacket in his shrill and nasally voice. He pushed a button on the side of his spear, which caused their cuffs to spark and turn yellow.

This caused the cuffs to suddenly yanked them to the ground until they were on their knees, making it look like they were bowing down. "Who are you people? Where are we? And why are here?", asked Infinite. "You are in my kingdom, which is located in the center of a large Island. As Yellow Jacket, my second-in-command, said I am Queen Vespa the ruler. And you are here because I've developed a plan to conquer the entirety of this dimension and your dimension, cementing myself as Supreme Empress of both and you are all crucial components for my plan to succeed", said the queen.

Before any of them could argue, Sonic suddenly let out a strained gasp and fell over; the others looked to see that his eyes had rolled back into his head, foam was coming from his mouth and his body was shaking uncontrollably. "What's happening to him?! SONIC!", shouted Amy as she was panicking with tears coming from her eyes. Queen Vespa looked down on him with visible fear in her eyes, "He's having a seizure! Quickly, take him to the infirmary!", she ordered the unnamed soldier. He nodded as he slung Sonic over his shoulders with surprising ease and carried him to the infirmary.

Vespa then turned to Yellow Jacket in anger and grabbed him by the chest with her large clawlike hand, "How much of those tranquilizer darts did you use on him?!", she screamed. Yellow Jacket shook in fear, "My Queen...he had transformed into some sort of snarling beast when we shot him with the first dart...so...we shot him four more times before he finally lost consciousness", he croaked. Vespa screamed in rage before dropping Yellow Jacket onto the ground and then backslapping his in the face.

"You stupid idiot! That tranquilizer is potent enough to render a giant, two-ton Mantizon! Using four of them on something as small as that blue rodent is liable to caused death and my plans cannot work if one of these mammals or even all of them are dead! They all need to be alive and in perfect health; you had better hope and pray that he survives or else you'll be severely punished!", she yelled.

Yellow Jacket cowered in fear as he crawled over to her feet and began kissing both of them as he grovelled beneath her with tears in his eyes. "My queen, forgive me! I didn't mean to inadvertently sabotage your plans, please forgive for my recklessness and ignorance! It shall not happen again your majesty!", he begged.

Vespa took a deep breath and exhaled, calming herself both turning to the others, "I apologize for my subordinate's lack of sense. Worry not, my scientists and doctors are quite skilled at what they do. Your friend will live, he has to if my plan is to be successful. Now then, I have to go attend to a personal matter; when I return, I'll inform you all what you shall be doing until the first phase of my plan is complete", she said as she left the room dragging Yellow Jacket behind her by his wings.

Back on Angel Island, the Chaotix were putting supplies onto the old ship they had used back when they had fought the Metarex; Tails wasn't done with his portal maker but they felt it would be smart to prepare for their mission beforehand. The kids sat nearby watching, all the while thinking about how stupid it was that they weren't being allowed to join in to help; in fact, as the Chaotix were preparing, the kids were having a quiet conversation about it.

"Its not fair! We're all pretty capable of saving our parents just as much as they are, we should be allowed to go with them!", whispered Maria. "Yeah! We're fast, you and Ruby got Chaos powers and Finn can just make an army of goblins to squash those bugs!", whispered Turbo. "Well I say tonight, we get on that ship and go by ourselves. We can take Orbot, Cubot and Metal Sonic both to we'd have someone to fly the ship and take care of SJ", whispered Finn. "One problem: how are we going to get to this alternate dimension? Uncle Tails isn't done with his portal maker and even if he was, he's not just gonna hand it over", whispered Speedy. Ruby sat in thought before her face lit up with realization, "I have an idea for how to get us to the other dimension", she said.

Back in the other dimension, Sonic slowly opened his eyes as he saw, through blurred vision, that he was in some kind of hospital room; he was strapped down to a cot by his waist with a white sheet draped over his body. There was an oxygen mask strapped to his face, an I.V. drip attached to his left arm and a tube that was siphoning a purple liquid from his blood attached to right arm. As his vision began to clear up, Sonic saw a Hornetite wearing a lab coat standing next to the machine that was sucking the purple fluid from his body.

"Wha...what's going...on?", Sonic asked weakly. The Hornetite looked up at him in surprise, "Oh I wasn't expecting you to wake up so soon! Well, you were having a seizure due to too much of the tranquilizer being pumped into your body, so this machine is carefully withdrawing it from your bloodstream. Once we're sure you're stable, the guards will take you back to the prisoner hold where your companions are", she said.

Sonic sighed as he fell back onto the cot, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a few Hobidons being led into a different room by metal cuffs and chains; none of them fought back, but they did have a look of unadulterated terror in their eyes as they were being led away. Before Sonic could say anything or even think about what he just saw, he felt the strong pull of sleep bringing back into unconsciousness.

In another part her palace, Queen Vespa was led by a nurse Hornetite inside what looked like a child's bedroom, except it didn't have a bed in it. "How has been fairing with his lessons?", asked Vespa. "Very excellent, your highness. He's only one and a half years old, yet he has the mental maturity of a teenager; he's quick to learn and adapt, and he's quite strong and quick on his feet. Right now, he's learning how to weave a cocoon to sleep in", said the nurse. Queen Vespa looked up to see her son, Prince Fluke, weaving a cocoon on the ceiling out of green slime he expelled from within his mouth.

What the nurse said before was correct: Fluke did indeed look like a teenager, he was almost the same height as Maria, his purple hair was longer and more spiky, and he was wearing a pair of white gloves and green boots. "Oh son, come down here so I can see you", said Vespa. Fluke heard his mother call him and flew down to the ground, landing in front of her; Vespa looked at him with a genuine expression of affection, "Look at you, so strong and intelligent at such a young age. It seems I made the right in choosing to breed with Hobidons males instead of Hornetite males, it produced a perfect future king and I know you'll command our people and spread fear to those puny mammal slaves", she said.

Fluke then looked at his mother with questioning expression, "M...mother, why must you keep the Hobidons as slaves just as you do with the lesser Insectoids? Why do we have slaves at all? Can't what they do be done by the servants? It just...doesn't seem ethical to enslave creatures for no reason", he said. Vespa sighed as she gently placed her hand upon his head, gently ruffling his hair and antennae. "My son, despite your mental maturity being that of an adult, you still much to learn about being a ruler. We enslave mammals and Insectoids far below our social standing because it's our divine right as the strongest, most intelligent and most beautiful of the Insectoids.

"Now then, go finish making your cocoon so you could go to sleep", she said. "But it's the middle of the afternoon, Mother", said Fluke. "And who's to say you can't sleep during it? That's the benefit of being royalty, you can do what you like and no one has the right to tell you otherwise. And besides, a growing prince needs his rest", she said. Fluke sighed as he flew back up to his cocoon to finish constructing it while his mother leaves the room, "I don't understand this whole "ruling" and "being superior over lesser beings" thing. Aren't we all creatures made by the same Gods and placed on the same planet to call our home? The way I see it, we're basically one people. No one is stronger or weaker than the other", he said begrudgingly.

The nurse Hornetite flew up to him and gave him a look of sympathy, "Your highness, you may have your reservations but you must understand that her majesty only wants what's best for special little grub. After all, you are our future king and you must learn the necessary ways of being a great ruler if our people are to prosper; it's too soon for you to worry about that now, so just lay your head and rest, young Master. Queen Vespa will handle that responsibility while you just grow and be happy, as I previously stated you are a special little grub", she said.

Fluke sighed as he made a hole in the cocoon to crawl inside of and made himself comfortable in its warm and squishy interior, the nurse smiled as she flew towards the door, shutting off the lights and closing the door; the lights went off and a blue bioluminescent light filtered into the room. Fluke grumbled as he curled up into a ball, "I'm not special! I'm no different than any of the other grubs my mother has birthed and I don't want to be king if it means I have to be arrogant and selfish", he whispered as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Back on Angel Island, it was nighttime as the Chaotix had finished taking stalk of all the provisions and other supplies on their ship; Espio and Charmy were inside the cabin getting ready to head over to Tails' home while Vector was busy making sure the ship was fueled up. "Ready, guys?", Ruby whispered to the other kids as they all hid behind a big rock. They all had backpacks full of clothes, their hair and toothbrushes, sleeping bags and a few toys and comic books; the twins had also made sure to pack up SJ's baby bag with extra diapers, extra wipes, baby powder, clothes, his favorite rattle and stuffed rabbit, several jars of baby food, his bottle and a tub of powdered baby formula.

Behind them stood Orbot, Cubot and Metal Sonic who they were bringing with along them so they'd have someone to pilot the ship and babysit them; they watched as Vector finished fueling up the ship before walking back into the cabin to join Espio and Charmy, "Okay...he went inside! Let's hurry up and do this!", whispered Maria. Metal Sonic walked over to the Master Emerald and pulled it from the alter, he quietly carried it onto the ship as the others followed him; he placed into a special fixture on the main deck of the ship, using two large metal clamps to hold it in place.

Maria shut the door as Orbot and Cubot went over to the main controls, Ruby opened a burlap bag and placed its contents in front of the Master Emerald, revealing the seven Chaos Emeralds. As the three robots started the ship's engine, Ruby placed the Chaos Emeralds in a circle around the Master Emerald before standing in front of them. "Are you sure about this, Ruby? What if it doesn't work?", asked Finn. "I have to try, I have the same chaos abilities as my Dad which means I can do this...I hope", she said.

The Chaotix walked out of the cabin just in time to see the ship up in the air, "What the Hell is going on? Someone's in our ship!", said Vector. Back on the ship, Ruby took a deep breath as she lifted her arms up and closed her eyes. "The servers are the seven Chaos...Chaos is power...power enriched by the heart, the controller serves to unify the Chaos. Master Emerald, I need you to help us...create a portal to the dimension our parents were taken to", she chanted.

The Master Emerald began to glow as a bright green portal appeared in the sky in front of the ship, Metal Sonic initiated the thrust and the ship sped off into the portal which closed behind it. The Chaotix stood in wide eyed disbelief before Charmy looked around, "Um...Vector...Espio, where are the kids?", he asked. The other two adults looked around and suddenly felt their stomachs drop as they slowly pieced together who was on their ship.

The kids screamed in fear as the ship blasted through the wormhole at warp speed before suddenly coming to a stop, but the sudden stop happened too fast for the three robots to react and the ship fell from the sky, crash landing in the middle of a forest. Miraculously, none of the children were hurt nor were the robots damaged; they were all just disoriented as SJ was crying and Finn whimpered in embarrassment as he just realized that he was so scared that he peed himself.

As he ran into the ship's bathroom to change his pants, the others tried to assess the situation. "The ship is wrecked, we need to leave and go find help to repair it if we're gonna save our parents", said Maria. Metal Sonic picked up SJ and placed him inside the baby carrier strapped to his chest, Ruby tied some ropes around the Master Emerald and using her innate strength to carry it on her back while putting the Chaos Emeralds into the burlap bag; Finn came out of the bathroom with clean pants and he, the twins and Maria grabbed their backpacks.

The small group left the ship and began walking through the forest, they were surprised by the fact that it was midday in this alternate dimension when back in theirs in was almost close to midnight. They continued walking until they heard something, it sounded like someone shouting and something banging the ground.

"Take that, you overgrown rust-bucket!"

The twins' eyes lit up with joy, "That's our Dad! We're coming, Daddy!", they shouted. They ran in the direction of Sonic's voice with the others following close behind, they came to the edge of forest that broke off into what looked like a small town; the twins looked around and smiled as they saw a familiar blue ball spinning across the ground and smashing into a giant one eyed robot. "Wow...did our parents free themselves that fast? If so, why haven't they come home yet?", asked Maria.

But that's when she was proven wrong when the blue ball stopped, the twins' smiles dropped as they realized something was off: this Sonic was quite tall, his arms were covered by blue fur instead of peachy fur, he wore a dark brown neckerchief and had...bandages around his wrists, ankles and shoes. "Guys...I don't know who that is, but...that's not our Dad", said Turbo.

Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 16. What happens next? Find out next time in Chapter 17, sorry but I don't have much to say in these blurbs. This is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	17. Chapter 17

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 17: Meet the Boom Crew

The twins stared in disbelief at the hedgehog that stood before them and their friends, as much as he looked and sounded like their father, he couldn't be; if it had been the Sonic they knew, he would've come back home if he had escaped from whoever had kidnapped him. This Sonic performed a spin dash into the robot's head, severing it from its body and causing it to fall over and short circuit, "You've won this time, Sonic but...ahh, I'm just gonna leave now".

The kids looked up to see a tall, bald man with a big brown mustache and wearing a red outfit. "Who's that weirdo?", asked Finn. "He kinds looks like Eggman, but...isn't he supposed to be fat?", said Maria. They watched the Eggman look-alike jump into a hovering vehicle and flew away, while the Sonic look-alike stood with a smug grin on his face; that's when the twins, along with SJ who Speedy had taken from Metal's arms, walked over to him.

This other Sonic was taken by surprise when he was approached by two eleven year old hedgehogs, one of which was holding a baby hedgehog but he smiled regardless and bent down to their level. "Well hey there, kiddos. I'm guessing you little tykes want my autograph", he said in a rather prideful manner. Speedy and Turbo's eyes lit up and they suddenly tackled him, giving him a hug; the Sonic look-alike sat in confusion, that's when he looked down at the baby hedgehog who was struggling to say something.

"p-p-p-Papa!", he cried out with a wide smile that exposed his tiny teeth. "Hey Sonic, did you take out robot yet?", asked a voice. The others kids gasped as they saw who spoke, a small group of Mobians were approaching: one was a female brown and orange badger they didn't recognize but the other three looked like Amy, Tails and Knuckles, except they were different. The Knuckles look-alike was very tall, and he had massive muscular arms and rather skinny legs.

The Tails look-alike was wearing a pair of goggles on his head and a tool belt around his waist, and the Amy look-alike wore a more rugged looking pink dress with purple accents; when they had approached the other Sonic, they were stunned to see him being hugged by two hedgehog kids and a baby hedgehog. That was when the other children decided to make their presence known and stepped out from behind the bushes, the three robots following them.

Upon seeing the robots, the other Sonic and the look-alikes stood up and took battle stances; the other Sonic held the three young hedgehogs in his arms while the other Knuckles grabbed Ruby, Maria and Finn, pushing them behind him. "Don't you worry, kids. We'll protect you from those robots!", he said. Orbot, Cubot and Metal Sonic clung to one another and cowered in fear, after the years of peace on Mobius, none of them were prepared to face a violent attack.

Ruby quickly ran in front of them and held her arms up to protect them, "No, don't! Don't hurt them, they're not bad robots! They're our babysitters", she said. The look-alikes stood in shocked silence, "Um...what is going on here?", asked the other Tails. "I think we should explain who we are and where we came from. Is there somewhere we can go so we can talk?", said Maria.

Ten minutes later, they had relocated to a shack near the beach; Maria sat on the couch with the other kids explaining to the look-alikes who they were while the other Amy placed a tray holding cups of orange juice and a platter of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for them. "So...let me see if I've got this right: you're the children of alternate versions of us from another dimension, and you're in our dimension because a group of armored bees kidnapped them and you want to rescue them", said Tails.

Maria nodded, "That's right: the twins and SJ are Sonic and Amy's kids, Finn is Nyx and Infinite's son, Ruby-Emerald is Knuckles and Rouge's daughter and I'm the adopted daughter of Shadow and Silver", she said. That's when Sonic burst out laughing, "Shadow's a dad in another universe? That's hilarious, I'm just picturing him changing diapers and warming up baby bottles", he chortled. Maria sat in confusion but chose not to question it.

Knuckles then approached Ruby, "So...in another dimension...I'm your dad?", he asked. Ruby looked up at him and smiled, "Yeah! You taught me a lot about appreciating nature and the responsibility of protecting the Master Emerald, and how one day, it'll be my job to guard. In fact, this is it over here", she said as she showed him the Master Emerald she kept hidden beneath a sheet. Knuckles walked over to it and carefully placed his hand on top of it, suddenly he froze in place and his eyes began to glow a bright green color.

Everyone saw this and stood in shock, "What's happening to him?", asked Amy. Just then, Knuckles suddenly let go of the Master Emerald and fell to his knees gasping. "Mr. Knuckles...are you okay? What happened?", asked Ruby. Knuckles panted heavily before sitting upright, "It showed me things...memories from the other me...some of them weren't happy memories. He used to be all alone...just like I was", he said in a sad tone.

Ruby gave him a sympathetic smile before pulling him into a hug, "Its okay. I know all about that...Dad told me stories about it and how sad he was to be the last of his kind, and he also told me how happy he was when I was born. He said it made him happy to know there was another echidna with him, even though I'm half bat. Even though you're obviously not my Dad, you don't have to be sad about being the only echidna around. I'm here for you", she said.

Knuckles smiled as he pulled Ruby close to him in a big bear hug, but he didn't hold her too hard for fear he might hurt her with his super strength. Sticks watched them while scoffing as she was still very suspicious of the kids, sure Sonic had traveled to an alternate dimension before but that didn't mean she'd just blatantly trust what they said. The feeling of something tapping her foot caught her attention and she looked down to see SJ tapping her foot and then holding his hands up.

"Sticks, I think he wants you pick him up", said Amy. Rolling her eyes, Sticks bent down and picked up the baby hedgehog; she held him close to her body and looked down at his face, SJ looked up at her with big innocent eyes. Sticks stared into his eyes and suddenly felt tears come to hers, she nuzzled her face into his making him squeal with laughter. "You having fun over there, Sticks?", asked Sonic with smug grin on his face. Sticks blushed in embarrassment as everyone else let out amused giggles.

"I...I just like the little squirt, alright. I was a bit suspicious of the kids but...I guess they're not really a threat to us so...I'll give 'em a chance", she said. "Or maybe you've fallen under the spell of our little brother's cuteness. Once you've looked into his eyes, your heart starts melting", said Speedy. Then Sonic leaned down and picked up the twins, holding them up in his arms.

"Say, I was wondering if you two kiddos could show me your speed. Let's see how fast you are", he said. The twins smiled widely as they ran outside while others followed them; Speedy and Turbo used tree branches to make a starting line in the sand before standing in front of it. They both got into position before suddenly speeding off, "Oh no...they're at it again", said Maria. "What do you mean?", asked Tails. "Back home, they always have races and other little competitions to see which of them is better than the other. But they've always tied and they never seem to understand that they're equally skilled", said Finn.

The twins sped across the beach four times before finally crossing the finish line, they looked to see that they had crossed it at the same time. "Again?! Why do we keep tying?!", shouted Speedy while Turbo stomped his feet in frustration. Sonic shook his head and walked over to them, placing his hands on their heads, "I get that you guys are competitive but maybe you should realize that it's better to appreciate that you're just as skilled as the other instead of trying to see who's better", he said.

Speedy and Turbo looked at him in wonderment, "Wow...you may not be our actual Dad, but you sure talk like him. It's kind of weird...but in a good way", they said. Sonic smiled before he picked them up onto both his shoulders, running around the beach while the two rode upon his back laughing; while the others stood by watching, Maria looked out of the corner of her eyes and saw someone standing near the bushes. It was hard to see them in the shade of all the palm trees, but this figure almost looked like Shadow.

Maria saw the figure looking at them before turning around and walking away, she turned to make sure everyone was distracted before following after the figure; she followed him until she came upon a cave within the forest. The interior of the cave was covered by glowing pink drawings and symbols, Maria was marvelling at the cave drawings for so long that she hadn't noticed the figure walk up behind her.

She felt a presence behind her and turned around to see...Shadow, but much like the others, he had a very different appearance. He was taller than the Shadow she knew, his shoes and gloves looked different and the quills on the back of his head were much larger and there were smaller quills sticking out between them. He looked down at her with a neutral expression while Maria stood there clutching the strap of her backpack out of nervousness.

"Um...hi...", Maria said shyly as she tried to break the awkward silence between them. "Are you really my daughter?", Shadow asked. Maria let out a small gasp, "I overheard the conversation between the Blue Nuisance, his friends and you children...are you really my daughter from an alternate dimension?", he asked again. Maria looked down at her feet before looking back up at him, "Um...yes. I'm actually your adopted daughter, my birth parents died and you decided to adopt me. I actually have two fathers because you're also married to a male hedgehog named Silver, here let me show you", she said.

Maria sat on a large flat rock and opened her backpack, she pulled out what looked like a pink binder with a picture of a rainbow unicorn with wings on the front of it, and above the picture was a label that read "Family Memories". Shadow walked over to look at the binder as she opened it, revealing several pictures of himself and another hedgehog with snow white fur. "This is our family photo album, I brought it with me so I could feel as if my Dads are still with me. These pictures are from their wedding day", she said.

She pointed to the first three photos: the first one showed Shadow and Silver standing at the alter wearing tuxedos, the second one showed them at the alter again only in this they were caught mid-kiss, and the last one showed Silver holding a six month old Maria who wore a pink dress and Shadow stood nearby giving her a spoonful of their chocolate wedding cake. Maria turned the page to show Shadow the next set of pictures, "These are from earlier in my life", she said.

Shadow looked at the pictures, each of them showed Maria at different points of her early childhood: the first one was when she was seven months old and it was of Silver holding her tiny hands as he helped her walk. The second one was when she was eleven months old with her mouth slightly opened, there was something written on the bottom of the photo that read "Dada", meaning that it was a picture of when Maria said her first words.

The third picture was of Maria when she was one year old and she was sitting at a children's picnic table with a small white and pink cake, with a unicorn shaped candle atop it, resting upon the table; this meant that the picture was taken during her first birthday party. The fourth picture was of Shadow hugging a three year old Maria as she was crying, there was a smiley face bandaid on her upper left arm and examination table behind them, so this must've been taken during a doctor's appointment.

Maria laughed at that one, "The funny thing is that I'm still scared of needles, I mean I don't cry when I get vaccines anymore but I do get tiny panic attacks. Just the idea of someone sticking a thin piece metal under my skin freaks me out", she said. Shadow stuck his out his hand to flip the page, revealing more pictures of Maria and her parents in many other places; there was one of them at the beach, one of them camping in the woods, one of them having a barbecue in the backyard, one of them at the movies, and at an amusement park.

There were also pictures of them during several holidays: a picture of them dressed as vampires on Halloween, a picture of them sitting at a table with their friends about to indulge in Thanksgiving dinner and a picture of them opening their presents on Christmas morning. Shadow took in each picture as it intrigued him that in another dimension he was a husband and a father, that he had a family and friends, and that they were so happy.

It was a stark contrast to himself as he was solitary, standoffish and even tried to destroy the dimension he lived in; he didn't know how to feel as he looked at the photos and thought about the young girl sitting next to him. Maria seemed like such a bright and happy girl, she seemed smart and soft spoken but outgoing; she also seemed to possess a good heart and could be a little shy at times. Shadow felt uneasy and even unsure of himself as he closed the photo album, giving it back to Maria.

"You should get going now, the others will notice you've disappeared and they'll come looking for you, and they won't be too happy to see you here with me", he said. Maria looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean by that? Aren't you guys friends?", she asked. Shadow walked further into the cave and stood with his back to her, "I don't have time to go into a the details...just know that I'm...not a good person and you shouldn't be around me", he said before sitting down with his back still turned to her.

As puzzled as Maria was, she still placed the photo album back inside her backpack and left the cave, giving it a small sideways glance before running back to Sonic's shack. If she had looked closer in the cave, she would've seen Shadow lift his hand up and wipe away a tear from his left eye. "Yeah...its best that you leave, you're from another life I don't lead and it's a waste of time for to try to connect with me. I look like your father but...I'm not your father", he said solemnly to himself.

Maria made it back to the beach where Sonic and the others had indeed noticed she was missing and were understandably upset about it considering she left without telling them; she apologized but didn't tell them she was with Shadow...at least not until later.

Later on at night, they kids needed a place to stay while Tails had found their ship and agreed to fix it up for them. Since there were six kids, three of stayed with Tails while the other three stayed with Amy; Amy made some space in her living room for Speedy and Turbo while setting up a cradle for SJ to sleep in, and Tails set up an empty space in his workshop, away from where he kept his plane and the ship, for Ruby, Finn and Maria.

Ruby and Finn were already snuggled into their sleeping bags fast asleep, but Maria was laying in her sleeping bag awake and in deep thought. Shadow said he wasn't a good person but what did that mean exactly? She got up and walked into the kitchen, she looked around for where Tails kept his cups but since she wasn't familiar with his house.

"Can't sleep?"

Maria turned around to see Tails standing in the doorway, "Yeah...usually when I can't sleep my Dad, Silver, would make me a glass of warm chocolate milk...but he's not here and I can't find your cups", she said. Tails let out a small laugh as he opened one of the cabinets and grabbed a glass cup, he then took out a pot and boiled up some milk on the stove; when it was warm enough, he poured it into the cup, squirted some chocolate syrup into it and stirred it until it turned into chocolate milk.

Just before Maria could grab the cup, Tails pulled a box out of the pantry, opened it and pulled a straw out; Maria looked closely at the straw and saw that it wasn't made of plastic but rather it looked like it was made out of a cookie. "What's that, Uncle Tails?", she asked not realizing she addressed him as 'Uncle Tails' despite the fact that he's not the Tails she knew. Tails laughed regardless and didn't bother to correct her, "Its a wafer roll, basically it's a cookie rolled up and baked into a straw. I thought you might want to drank your milk through it", he said.

Maria picked up the glass and sipped her milk, she smiled in delight at the combination of warm chocolate milk and the vanilla flavored wafer roll. After taking a long sip, she looked up at Tails. "Um...Uncle Tails, do you know anything about Shadow? I mean, the one that lives in this dimension. I heard Uncle Sonic make a joke about him and so I know there's a Shadow here too", she said. Tails held a distant expression, "He's...not a good guy. The first time we ran into him, he and Sonic got into a fight but Eggman got in the way and he vanished. The second time, Eggman tricked him into thinking Sonic trashed talked him, so he attacked all of us and fought Sonic again. Then he hid Eggman and another version of him from another dimension and almost caused our dimension to implode. Why do you ask?", he said.

Maria said nothing and finished her milk, ate the wafer roll and gave Tails a hug. "Just curious, goodnight Uncle Tails", she said before she went back to her sleeping bag. As she laid there, she felt tears come to her eyes; she couldn't believe that in this dimension, her father was a...villain. That he did bad things but then...why was he so nice to her? Or at the very least why was he so non-aggressive towards her? "Maybe he just doesn't hurt kids...? Didn't stop him from almost destroying this dimension where there might be lots of innocent kids", she whispered before falling asleep.

Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 17, stay tune for Chapter 18 where we'll see how things are going for Sonic and the others as they learn more about Queen Vespa's regime and about her son who has very mixed feelings about his mother's rule. Until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	18. Chapter 18

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 18: The life of a Slave

Sonic awoke to the feeling of something tapping against his lips, he opened his eyes just in time to see the same Hornetite wearing a lab coat sticking a thermometer into his mouth. She looked up to see that he was awake, "Careful now, blue mammal. Do not overexert yourself", she said before taking the thermometer out of his mouth.

That was when Sonic notice he had a blood pressure device strapped to his left arm and an electrode connected to a heart monitor attached to his chest; he watched as the Hornetite looked at a monitor in front of her, "Heartrate is normal, breathing is normal and your temperature is 35°C. According to the CT scan, you had a sleep efficiency approximately above 90 percent, which is just another way of saying you slept very well", she said as she wrote down on a clipboard.

"You...sure are keen on making sure I'm healthy, huh?", said Sonic as the doctor used a flashlight to look inside of his ears. She then took a popsicle stick and told Sonic to open his mouth, using the stick to hold his tongue down while she inspected his throat and teeth. "Your teeth are in perfect condition, no cavities or enamel erosion, and you don't appear to have any respiratory problems. You are quite a healthy mammal, which is good.

"Her Majesty's plans cannot be reached if any of you are sick or in bad health, and she has ordered we perform a once daily health checkup to ensure you eight mammals stay healthy", said the doctor. Her words struck an interest in Sonic's mind, "Say...what is this plan of hers anyway? We keep hearing about it but we don't know what it is or why we're so important to it", he said.

The doctor shook her head, "I'm not at liberty to reveal her Majesty's plans, only that I am to inform you all of your daily health evaluations and that you should respect our queen's authority. Just because you're needed alive and healthy it doesn't mean she cannot punish you severely for your impudence", she said.

Sonic smirked, "Lady...you only cuffed my wrists, which makes no sense for me because I mostly use my legs, usually for running faster than the speed of sound. So what's to stop me from running away from here and getting help?", he said as the doctor checked the reflexes of his elbows and knees. She gave him a neutral expression before lifting one of her left arms and pressing a button on a device she wore on her wrist.

Suddenly, Sonic felt his body stiffen and his was unable to move any part of his body; he tried to move around but it not only felt like every muscle in his body was paralyzed, it felt like every single cell in his body was paralyzed. This actually almost made Sonic panic, "What's going on? I can't move!", he said. "Precisely. Her majesty had long since taken precautions to prevent escape attempts when she enslaved the Hobidon race and the lower class Insectoids, the soldiers that captured you placed these specially designed cuffs on your wrists.

"While you were unconscious, the cuffs injected microscopic nanobots into your body. By now, they've attached themselves to your nerve cells, and using electrical signals sent through these wristbands computers allows us to control your very movements. So you can try to escape but all we have to do is push a button to paralyze your nerves and then push another to command your legs to walk you back to us", she said.

Sonic looked at her with disbelief, he couldn't believe how sadistically intelligent these creatures were that they had actually managed to do something that not even Eggman could accomplish; every time Eggman had captured Sonic, he'd always managed to escape because despite having an IQ of 300, Eggman was never able to render Sonic incapable of escaping and his evil plans ended up blowing up in his face.

But now, these creatures, the Hornetites, had developed a way to keep their prisoners from escaping by using microscopic robots to control their nervous systems like marionettes! He suddenly felt his limbs free themselves from their frozen stiffness, he looked up to see that the doctor had pushed another button to release him before looking at him with a somewhat stern expression.

"Also, even if you did escape, who would you turn to? The Hobidons and lower class Insectoids have been enslaved and greatly fear us, the upper class Insectoids are far too loyal to their monarch who has allowed them to live freely and in the lap of luxury to betray her, and our glorious kingdom is in the middle of a large island in the middle of an ocean. Unless you're part fish, you do not have the strength to swim miles and miles to find the mainland. Be smart and accept your fate, all of the other slaves have", she said.

The doctor then called upon a group of four guards to come and retrieve Sonic, "The health examination is complete, take him back to the prisoner hold and inform the queen", she said. Sonic was still in shock at being told about what the cuffs on his wrists that he didn't get up when one of the guards told him to, so he pushed a button on his wrist device which caused Sonic to stand up and walk with them almost like a robot.

Sonic was at least relieved that he could still move his eyeballs, so he could see move of the courtyard he was being led through, he could see the Hobidons just sitting around with miserable expressions and no real purpose; he could also see more Insectoids sitting amongst them. One group had humanoid heads and torsos but their lower body was fat and caterpillar-like with six stubby legs, another group looked like silk worm moths that stood on two legs and had four arms, another group looked like walking stick bugs loading things onto carts being pulled by what looked like purple praying mantises the size of camels.

All of them, with the exception of the giant mantises, were wearing the same glowing metal cuffs that no doubt had pumped nanobots into their body in order for the Hornetites to control them if they resist or try to escape. After what seemed like an eternity, the guards reached the prisoner hold; they released Sonic from their control and pushed him into the room. The others immediately rushed Sonic to see if he was okay, with Amy running up to hug him, much like how she did when they first became friends only this was out of fearful concern than obsession.

The others were happy to see that Sonic was alive and well, but they immediately noticed the look of fear in his eyes. "Sonic...what's wrong? Why do you look so scared?", asked Silver. Sonic slowly sat down and placed his head in his hands as he explained to them everything he was told, at first they didn't think much of the health checkups but when he told them about the cuffs and what they do, they all had a look of abject horror on their faces.

"And on top of that, the city surrounding this castle is full of high class Insectoids that are too loyal to the queen and won't give up their fancy rich lifestyles to help a bunch of slaves, and this kingdom is on an island in the middle of an ocean. I can't swim and even if I could, I'd soon die of exhaustion if I tried to swim across a whole ocean. These guys are smarter than Eggman, they're scarily smarter than him, and...I'm stuck. With old Baldy McNosehair, I could've easily escaped because he never thought his plans all the way through. These guys have thought of every way to keep us from escaping even before they knew about us", said Sonic as he sighed in defeat.

Nyx walked over to him, placed her hands on his and pulled them away from his face. "Sonic, I know that it seems we're in a bit of a rut here and things seem hopeless, but you have to remember that this isn't the first time we've been in a perilous situation. You guys have been through tough times, I had witnessed the death of my parents and we've all survived a war, during which you were held captive and tortured for six months.

"Yes, we've been taken captive. Yes, they've implanted us with nanobots to control our very movements and yes, there's no way for us to escape but we can't give up or lose hope. We have to stay strong until we can escape. Did you guys forget that Maria was with us and they didn't capture her? She clearly wasn't their target, so she must've gotten away and probably told Tails and the others what happened. Knowing Tails, he's probably building a device to enable him and the others to travel through dimensions. Until then, we have to stay strong and brave or as a certain someone once told me, 'we have to keep going and not let our fear own us'", she said with a confident smile.

Sonic slowly took in what Nyx said and realized she was right; he stood, smiled and gave her a short hug of appreciation. "Thanks Nyx, I needed to hear that", he said. Infinite then approached Nyx and gave her a loving kiss, "You're so beautiful when you're giving an inspirational speech", he said as he nuzzled her cheek which made her laugh.

The sound of the door opening caught their attention and turned to see Queen Vespa standing in the doorway once again flanked by her second-in-command Yellow Jacket but this time she was flanked on her left by a young Hobidon with spiky purple hair and orange fur; he stood next to Vespa wearing a small crown on his head and a short purple cape like she did. "Now that we've dealt with that...minor roadblock, I've decided what shall be done with eight mammals: until phase one of my plans is complete, you shall be made to work in the Honeycomb Mines with the rest of the slaves", she said.

That's when she noticed they were looking at Fluke, who stood next to her with a nervous expression. "Oh, allow me to introduce my son, Prince Fluke. He's to oversee how I operate and conduct things around here, so that when he reaches adulthood and becomes king, he will be just as great a ruler as I am. Now then, Yellow Jacket, activate their nanobots and make them walk towards the mines", she said.

Yellow Jacket sneered wickedly as he pressed a button on his wrist device forcing them all to march into the courtyard like cartoony soldiers, Sonic was already used to the feeling of having his body seized but it took the others by surprise as they realized that this was what he was talking about a few minutes ago. While they were being forced to walk to the mines, Knuckles kept looking at Prince Fluke out of the corner of his eyes, noticing how he looked at his mother with a pleading expression and also glancing at Yellow Jacket with a look of utter contempt.

It seemed that Fluke didn't want to be there and he didn't want to watch his mother and her subordinate pushing them around, and this gave Knuckles a tiny sliver of hope that they had someone on their side. They soon came upon the entrance to a mine shaft, they walked down the lit tunnel into an enormous underground cavern lined with large honeycombs dripping with the oozing sweet yellow goop, and mine carts and railroad tracks lining the floor.

"These mines have formed honeycombs for thousands of years, the combs and the honey are beloved delicacies amongst my people and so I have employed these slaves to excavate them and bring them up to the surface to be processed by the merchants and artisans for selling and consumption. You shall join them in excavating the honeycombs as well", said Queen Vespa.

They group looked to see the Hobidons and lower class Insectoids toiling away with shovels and pickaxes, and hauling the boulder sized honeycombs to the surface in mine carts. Knuckles was throughly disgusted by what he was looking at, and he turned around to glare at Queen Vespa and Yellow Jacket. "You people are vile, evil creatures! How can you do this to these innocent people? Some of them are Insectoids just like you, and you enslaved them simply because they're of the lower class and therefore beneath you?!

"Who are you to decide who should be free or not based on their social status? Guess what? I live in a country run by a president and functions on democracy, where everyone is free to live their lives how they want regardless of their social status. I mean, yeah the lower class do struggle to get by, but no one decides that they deserve to be enslaved and forced into labor. You're not my queen and I don't care if you can control me with tiny robots, I refuse to serve you!", he yelled.

Yellow Jacket growled as he stepped forward and rammed the end of his spear into Knuckles' stomach, knocking him to the ground. "How dare you speak that way to her majesty?! You are swine and are far beneath her, you will show respect for her authority!", he screamed as he repeatedly slammed the end of his spear into Knuckles' ribcage.

Despite his pain, Knuckles held his defiant attitude, "I don't take orders from sniveling little cowards who stand off to the side while his subordinates fight for him. Thought I forgot about that? When you came to kidnap us, you just stood off to the side while the others fought, and when Infinite called you out for it, you screamed like a whiny brat and brained him in the head. If you think I'll listen to a mewling little pissant, you must either be stupid or desperate or both!", he spat.

Yellow Jacket growled and was about to hit Knuckles again but Queen Vespa stepped forward, grabbed him by the chest and lifted him up to face her. "Hmm...for a mammal, you are very stubborn and strong willed. I like that in my soldiers, especially if they show no fear in the face of punishment for defiance. How would like to join my forces? You won't have to toil in the mines with your companions and these pitiful slaves, and I'll mold you into a true warrior", she offered.

Knuckles turned his head away, "I don't want for people who enslave innocent people for their own benefit, and I'm already a warrior in my own right. I come from a race of Mobians known for being strong proud warriors, and I led my friends and other Mobians in a year long war, and we succeeded. I'd sooner die than work for you!", he spat.

Queen Vespa smirked as she dropped Knuckles to the ground, "Well unfortunately for you, I need you alive for my plans to succeed. But just because you're not allowed to die, doesn't mean I can't punish you for your impudence", she said as she turned to the group of guards overseeing the slaves toiling in the mines, "You men, get the other seven some tools and put them to work. Yellow Jacket, take this red mammal to the Torture Grounds. The best kind of slave is one who is willing and they're only willing once they've been broken", she said.

Yellow Jacket activated the nanobots in Knuckles' body, forcing him to walk back outside; Rouge tried to run towards him but the other soldiers held her back, Knuckles saw this and tried to quell her fears. "Its okay, Rouge. I'll be fine, I've survived both the genocide of my people and a war, there's nothing they can do to break me!", he called out. As afraid as she was for her husband, Rouge knew he was right and he had to be strong, for both herself and him. So she swallowed both her fear and pride as she was forced back underground by the other soldiers.

The rest of the group were given pickaxes and, under the supervision of the guards, began hacking at wall of the cavern to excavate the honeycombs. About two feet away from Silver stood a male Hobidon with mahogany hair and grey fur who started coughing and hacking, which made Silver look at him in concern. "Hey are you alright?", he asked. The Hobidon continued to cough until blood trickled out the side of his mouth, completely ignoring Silver's question.

The others looked to see that the Hobidon was in very bad shape: he had dark rings around his eyes, his cheeks were sunken in and he was so skinny and malnourished that his ribs were very visible through his fur and skin. "What's going on here?", asked one of the guards as they approached him. The Hobidon looked up at the guard and said in a barely audible whisper, "Please...make the pain...stop..."

The guard sighed before he pushed a button on his wrist device, which caused the Hobidon's cuffs to turn black; the Hobidon gave a small sad smile before the light faded from his eyes and he fell over, Nyx ran towards him and placed her fingers near his throat. She suddenly backed away with sadness and terror in her eyes, "He's...he's dead! What...what did you do to him?!", she shouted at the guard.

"The nanobots within the other slaves contain a small amount of Botulinum neurotoxin, it's a slow acting poison that causes death. The way it works is that first the nanobots use their tiny mechanical jaws to sever the nerve endings so the victim doesn't feel the pain as the poison shuts their organs down one by one starting with their brains. You all don't have to worry about that because since the queen needs you for plans, your nanobots do not contain any of the neurotoxin. The rest of the slaves have them because when they've outlived their usefulness, we put them out of their misery", he said.

Sonic and his friends gasped in horror as another guard carried the corpse away, knowing there wasn't anything they could do, they returned to digging out the honeycombs but they did take a small moment of silence for the poor Hobidon, especially since it seemed that all the other Hobidons looked so emotionally beaten and broken that they looked at the scene with miserable banality.

Meanwhile on the Torture Grounds, Knuckles was being held down by two soldiers while three other were using their mandibles to bite into his flesh; Knuckles at this point was covered by numerous cuts and bruises that parts of his red fur had turned purple due to the almost hour long beating he had endured, and now the Hornetite soldiers were commanded to bite into his flesh in an effort to break him.

Queen Vespa stood off to the side with Yellow Jacket watching the scene, "How is this, your highness?", asked Yellow Jacket. Queen Vespa smirked, "I don't see enough blood", she said. "You heard her! Our queen wants to see more blood!", Yellow Jacket screeched. The Hornetites biting into Knuckles' flesh bit harder until they drew blood and it hurt so much that Knuckles let out a cry of pain and fought hard to keep the tears at the corners of his eyes from falling.

Queen Vespa then turned to Yellow Jacket, "If what that red mammal said is true, then you should fear for your life!", she said to him while glaring angrily at him. Yellow Jacket shook with fear, "He spits nothing but lies, your majesty! I...would fight for you until my dying breath!", he claimed. Vespa huffed, "For your sake, you better be telling the truth! If there's one thing I have zero tolerance for its sniveling cowardly weaklings! That is why I enslaved the Hobidons, after they proved that they'd rather cower in fear than fight back, I found them to good for nothing other than digging up honeycombs.

"Then I enslaved the lower class Insectoids because of their utter refusal to try to better themselves, even when I offered them riches in exchange for their willingness to be conscripted into my armies. Weaklings and cowards serve only one person in life and that is to obey the strong and help them become even stronger; I have no place in my army for them, so as my second-in-command, you are expected to so the most amount of strength and tenacity out of all my soldiers. But if what the red mammal said turns out to be true, prepare to endure a pain so horrible that not even the Devil himself would inflict upon others!", she said.

Yellow Jacket swallowed back a lump that formed in his throat as he bowed respectfully to her, "Y...yes, of course! Anything for you my wonderous, benevolent and...beautiful queen", he stammered. Queen Vespa smirked as she fluttered her wings in a display of pride, "Well...at least you recognize true beauty when its standing right front of you. I shall be retiring to the royal spa room for the rest of the day, I've earned myself some much needed downtime; you are in charge of the Torture Team, Yellow Jacket. Continue the red mammal's torment and when his injuries become life threatening, take him to the doctors to have him healed and then repeat the process until the pain has shattered his mind and soul", she said before walking into the palace.

Knuckles grunted as he propped himself up on his elbows, the soldiers having let go of him when their queen started yelling at their general. Speaking of Yellow Jacket, he suddenly turned towards Knuckles in vengeful rage, "HOW DARE YOU MAKE MY QUEEN LOOK DOWN ON ME!", he screamed as he grappled Knuckles by the throat with his mandibles and slammed him head first into the hard ground, a loud crunching sound echoing through the courtyard. Knuckles saw white spots dancing in front of his eyes as the head injury he had just endured disoriented him, his body holding in the position of which Yellow Jacket slammed him for five seconds before he fell onto his side.

Yellow Jacket sneered at him, "You'll regret the moment you decided to tarnish my reputation, you cherry colored swine! You're lucky we're under orders NOT to kill you or any of your little companions", he said before turning to his subordinates, "You lot! Time to take a break, he needs to be fresh for his second beating of the day...let's say...twenty minutes", he then began to walk away but not before turning to one of the smaller more timid soldiers.

"YOU! YES YOU! Go fetch me some ambrosia, I'm starving! Don't you look at me like that! Yes, you gave me attitude with that look? Have you forgotten who I am? I am Yellow Jacket, Queen Vespa's second-in-command and I shall..."

His words faded as he got further away from Knuckles, who was trying not to pass out but the pain radiating from his body up to the top of his skull was too much to bear; his vision began to blur and distort to the point where he couldn't make out the two guards left behind to watch him and he had to close his eyes or else he'd become nauseous. Speaking of the two guards, they struck up a conversation with one another out of boredom.

"How come we never get a lunch break?", the first one sighed. "Lunch break? I would kill just for a tiny nap", the second one gripped. Suddenly, an orange blur zipped past the two guards, their eyes went wide before they fell over unconscious; the orange blur revealed itself to be Prince Fluke as he leapt down in front on Knuckles prone body. There's a nap for you both and when you wake up we'll be long gone, he thought as he proceeded to help Knuckles to his feet. "Don't worry, sir. I'll get you out of here, I can't watch them do this to you anymore; I may not be able to free all of you but at least I can free one of you. Can you walk?", he said.

"I...think...so...", Knuckles croaked before falling over half conscious. Fluke looked at him in concern, "This is bad, you're too weak to move. Hang on, sir, this might hurt", he said as he lifted Knuckles onto his back and used his dragonfly esque wings to fly out of the courtyard and through the dense forest. When they were about a hundred feet away from the castle, Knuckles regained consciousness long enough to speak to young prince. "Why...why are you helping me?", he asked.

"My mother is concerned about her approaching old age and subsequent death, so she is trying to mold me to take her place as king when I reach adulthood but I don't want to be king! I've seen what my mother has done: enslaving other creatures because they don't fit her idea of true strength and power, treating those of her own kind so callously and placing so many expectations in me to walk in her claw-steps.

"I hate what she is doing, what we're doing! Its wrong and vile and disgusting, and if this is what it means to be a ruler, than I never want to become one! I may be one and a half years old but I'm intelligent enough to know this isn't the way you lead others, and I wish to help, even if that means going against my own mother whom I love despite all the wrongs she's committed", he said.

Knuckles smiled to himself knowing that his previous assumptions about the prince were correct, "What's you name again, kid?", he asked. "Fluke, my name is Fluke. Please only refer to me as such, I refused to be called "Prince" or "Highness" or "Majesty". They are titled I neither deserve nor want, I am no different than any other grubs my age and there's nothing special about me apart from the fact that I'm a hybrid of Hobidon and Insectoid genes", said Fluke.

"Thank you...for helping me, Fluke. You're a good kid, and that's why...you need to leave now!", said Knuckles. Before Fluke could ask what he meant, Knuckles threw himself off of his back and landed on the forest floor.

"SIR!", Fluke shouted in distress.

"Get out of here, kid! Leave this place and go find help! If they catch me, I'll just be beaten up again and healed afterwards. Whatever plans of conquest your mom's got cooking up, my friends and I are major components in it and its apparently too important to risk killing us, but if she finds out you betrayed her by helping me, there's no telling what she'll do. She may be your mom but given how she treats her soldiers, who's to say she won't kill or torture you? Run...JUST GO!", Knuckles shouted.

What Fluke hadn't known was that while he was talking, he couldn't bear the sounds of furious buzzing slowly ganging up on them, but Knuckles' more sensitive non-visible ears picked up on the sound and immediately deduced that it was Yellow Jacket and his cronies coming after them. And he wanted to spare Fluke from any punishment he might suffer for his traitorous act; Fluke almost bent down to pick Knuckles back up but he could hear Yellow Jacket screaming at his subordinates in the distance and they were growing closer by the second.

Reluctantly, Fluke sent one last apologetic look towards Knuckles before flying away; Fluke didn't even stop for a short rest or even planned to stop for a short rest, he simply continued flying even as he reached the ocean and began flying over the large open body of water, determined to find help. Back with Knuckles, through his blurred vision, he could barely make out the sight of Yellow Jacket and his goons coming closer.

"Come at...me, you...you...honey sucking...bastards...!", he groaned before shutting his eyes and losing consciousness.

Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 18, and so much has been revealed. What happens next? Tune in for Chapter 19 to find out; until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	19. Chapter 19

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 19: Interrogations, Weird Dreams & Slave Cults

Queen Vespa paced back and forth, a worried expression on her face; one of her numerous nursemaids, who were tasked with watching and caring for Fluke, stood near her with an equally worried expression. She had barged into the royal spa room while Vespa was getting a wing massage, and when she asked why she was being disturbed, the nursemaid explained that she went into the prince's room to wake him up from his afternoon nap for lunch but he wasn't in his cocoon.

She then enlisted the help of all the other nursemaids to search the entire castle but he wasn't anywhere, he wasn't even in the room where Vespa kept hundreds of toys that she took from the merchants in the city and would let Fluke play inside of after his lessons were done. Just then, Yellow Jacket entered the grand foyer with his group of soldiers, two of which were carrying an unconscious Knuckles.

"What is the meaning of this?", asked Vespa. "My queen, the red mammal had tried to escape but he didn't get too far in his condition", said Yellow Jacket. Vespa pondered the timing of her son's disappearance and Knuckles' escape attempt, and she didn't want to assume that the two events were connected but it seemed too perfect to think otherwise.

"Take him to the infirmary and place him into a healing tank. When he's fully healed, bring him to the prisoner hold so I can interrogate him. I've just thought of the perfect way to make him talk when I do", said Vespa with an almost sadistic grin. Yellow Jacket's subordinates carried Knuckles to the infirmary, where upon being told what needed to be done, the doctors took the unconscious echidna from the guards.

The doctors first cleaned the blood off of Knuckles' body, then they placed an oxygen mask over his muzzle and wires with electrodes all over his body; they then strapped him onto flat, table like platform with a pillowy cushion on it before sliding it inside of an oval shaped glass tank. One of the doctors pushed a button on the side of the tank, causing it to fill up with a light green liquid.

Meanwhile back down in the Honeycomb Mines, the others were hard at work digging the large hexagonal objects out of the cavern walls, hacking away with pickaxes just as all the slaves did. Rouge dropped her pickax as she had to stop for a moment; the air within the mines was quite hot, she was sweaty and thirsty, and her shoulders were starting to ache.

Shadow took notice of her dropping her pickax and grabbing her left shoulder, "Rouge, what's wrong? Are you okay?", he asked in concern. Before she could answer, one of the guards overseeing them walked towards them, "What's going on here?", he asked. Rouge strained herself to stand up straight, "Its hotter than a desert in Mazuri in here and my shoulders hurt like Hell", she complained.

The guard raised one of his hands, making Rouge flinch as she assumed he would strike her for complaining about her predicament, but in actuality he called another guard over; this one guard was a female Hornetite who gently lifted Rouge up and led her over to a corner of the cavern where she instructed her to sit on a large cushion. The male guard went outside and came back with a bowl of ice cold water, giving it to Rouge; she drank the water quite greedily before giving the empty bowl back.

Then the female guard walked around to Rouge's back, placed her four hands on her shoulders and upper back, and began to carefully massage her; Rouge tensed up before letting out a sigh of relief and leaned forward to give the guard a better angle to work from. The female guard gently kneaded the muscles within Rouge's shoulders and back, working out all the kinks and knots; after twenty minutes of this, the female guard finished her task and pulled away.

"How are you feeling?", she asked. Rouge turned around to look at her, "Much better actually", she said. The female guard helped her stand up before leading her back to the others and then walked away, Rouge picked up her pickax and continued to hack away at the cavern walls. "Did...did they just give you water and a back massage?", asked Amy. "I guess so but hey, I'm not complaining. It felt really good", said Rouge.

Just then, Silver felt something strike him in the back of his head; he let out a cry of pain as he turned to see that one of the Hobidons was giving him an angry glare while holding another rock in his hand. Shadow noticed this and rushed over, grabbing him by his chest fur, "Who the Hell do you think you are lobbing a rock at my husband's head?!", he screamed at him.

The Hobidon looked at him with cold eyes, "I think I'm a poor unfortunate soul being worked to the bone for the last ten years while your friend gets tired after two and a half hours, and she gets a back massage?! You people downright sicken me!", he said.

Shadow was mere seconds away from wringing the Hobidon's neck when two guards came out of nowhere, separating them. "What's going on here?", said one of them. "This bastard threw a rock at my husband's head!", said Shadow. The first guard turned to his subordinate, "Take the slave to the Discipline Room to put him in his place!", he said. The second guard took the Hobidon away as the first one led Shadow back to the others and then inspected the back of Silver's head, it seemed the rock didn't do too much damage, it merely bruised his head and left a scratch.

The guard left and then came back with a large bandage and a cup of some pink salve that smelled like wildberries; he then rubbed some onto Silver's bruise and placed the bandage on it, "There, that medicinal salve should heal your bruise within a day or two", he said before walking away. Shadow then pulled Silver towards him and kissed his forehead, "Are you okay, Silvy?", he asked tenderly. Silver smiled and nuzzled into his cheek, "I'm alright. It doesn't hurt that much but I still wonder why he did that to me", he said.

"Its because many of the slaves are either afraid of or hate you".

A tiny voice caught the group's attention and they all looked to see a Hobidon child who looked to be no older then seven or eight; he had pure white fur, albeit it was scruffy and a little dirty, blue eyes and black fur on the tips of his ears. "What did you say, little one?", asked Silver. "We all have heard of the queen's plans for dimensional domination and how eight mammals from another dimension would be crucial to her plans.

"Then we saw you all being carried to the prisoner hold until you wake up, and we knew you were the ones the queen said she needed, and because she needs you alive and well, none of you will be allowed to become injured, sick or even filthy. Many of the slaves believe you can bring freedom to us all but others despise you for essentially being the queen's pets and being given such luxuries like water and medicine, even though we all know that you have no control over any of this, many of the slaves have been have in pain for so long that they've become irrational and spiteful", he said.

The group suddenly realized why that Hobidon had flung a rock at Silver's head, and now they actually felt bad that he was probably being beaten for what he did; it really wasn't the fault of Sonic and his friends that Queen Vespa needed them for her plans and that she needed them alive and in perfect health, they didn't even know what her plan was. Shadow turned to the young Hobidon, "What's your name, kiddo?", he asked. The little boy looked down at his feet shyly, "M...my name is...Kimba", he said.

"Where are your parents, Kimba? I'm certain they'd be worried if the guards beat you for not doing your work", said Nyx. Just then, Kimba started crying; he dropped down onto his knees while pressing his hands to face. "What's wrong? Why are you crying, kiddo?", asked Infinite. "I don't have any parents. When I was born, my mother got very sick but because there's hundreds of us, Queen Vespa isn't too worried about losing slaves. Especially since she just locks some of the males and females in the prisoner hold and forces them to make babies so she can have more slaves", he said.

He took a moment to let that information sink in because after realizing where they had woken up and sat in for several hours, Sonic and the others started making gagging sounds and reviled in horror and disgust; after they calmed down, Kimba continued to explain. "Anyway, my father had finally had enough when my mother died and the Hornetites didn't bother giving her any medicine, so he rebelled and actually killed one of the guards. Queen Vespa tried to break him by torturing just as she's doing with your friend, the red echidna, but like him my father's spirit was too strong so she just killed him.

"But she didn't kill him by activating his cuffs to sever his nerves and release the toxin so he could die a painless death, instead she ordered her guards to beat him to death. I was given to the counsel of elders of our former village to be raised, the only reason the elders were spared was because since Queen Vespa believed that elders are wise, they're perfect for inspecting the honeycombs for impurities before sending them to the merchants.

"The Grand Elder told me what happened to both of my parents and how we're powerless to stand up to our masters. Since I'm small like all the other children, I'm forced to crawl into holes in the walls to get the hard to reach honeycombs; I'm one of the Hobidons that believe you can help us, but I'm not gonna get my hopes up too high", said Kimba as he walked away.

Or he would've walked away if Shadow hadn't grab him by the shoulder and turned him around, "We may not know how to get out of here ourselves, but you don't have to be sad anymore, kiddo. Stay close to us, we'll keep you safe and we'll try to share some of the luxuries the guards give us; they may not like it but since they need us, they'll just have to deal with it", he said with a smile. Kimba looked up at him wide eyes before embracing him around the waist and crying happily.

Just then, they heard what sounded like a train whistle; they all looked up to see a rather large beehive shaped clock on the far wall, a whistle on the side of the clock let out another loud whistle before a tiny door on the front of the clock opened up and a tiny fake bee on a spring sprung out. "MIDDAY, BREAKTIME! MIDDAY, BREAKTIME! MIDDAY, BREAKTIME!", the tiny bee screeched before going back into the clock. "What was that all about?", asked Amy.

"You see, even though the Hornetites don't treat us when get sick and injured, they still allow us to have breaks to eat, sleep and use the bathroom, but we're only allowed to go number 1 and 2, they don't allow us to bathe", said Kimba. Soon a group of guards came by pushing a trolley holding two large metal pots and another trolley carrying bowls. Some guards passed bowls while others took ladles and poured what looked like grey oatmeal into the bowls.

"Ugh...what's that sloppy goop? It looks like what they serve you in hospitals", said Sonic. "Its gruel, it's all they feed us. Even though its supposedly served hot, it always tastes like cold mash potatoes and it has no nutritional value whatsoever, and even though they give us a lot of it twice a day, because it has no nutritional benefits, we stay hungry and are practically starving", said Kimba.

Soon the guards came up to Sonic and the gang, but they didn't give them gruel; instead, when they gave them the bowls, one of the guards dipped a ladle into the second pot and scooped out what looked like yogurt into their bowls. It was thick, translucent, smelled like watermelons and was a reddish orange color. "What's this? This doesn't look like gruel, not that I'm asking for it, but you've given it to everyone else so...why not us?", asked Sonic.

The lead guard shook his head, "You mammals are so simpleminded, that's ambrosia. It's a rare delicacy enjoyed by many of us in the upper class, it's made from the honeycombs excavated from the mines and Giant Mantizon milk, combined with a bacteria that converts the lactose to lactic acid, which thickens the milk and gives it the tangy taste characteristic of pudding. The ambrosia is then cooled and flavoured with fruit, sugar, and other sweeteners or flavourings; stabilizers, such as gelatin, may also be added but it's not always necessary to do so.

"Queen Vespa ordered us to feed you ambrosia to make sure you stay healthy since its provides protein and calcium, and it may enhance healthy stomach bacteria; the health benefits range from protecting against osteoporosis to relieving irritable bowel disease and aiding digestion. Even though ambrosia is regarded by us to be a superior culinary achievement not worthy of being served to lesser creatures like you, she wants you in perfect health. We suggest you be grateful", said the guard as he handed a bowl of gruel to Kimba before walking away.

The group looked down at the bowls of ambrosia in their hands before Infinite let out a sigh, "Alright. I'll try it first, after all I used to live out in the desert and survived on cactus fruit and any small aquatic creatures swimming in the waters of an oasis. This can't possibly be any worst that roasted newt flesh", he said as he lifted the bowl to his mouth and tipped it back, pouring a small bit of ambrosia into his mouth.

His eyes lit up as he swallowed the goopy substance, licking his lips. "My word...this is delicious! It almost tastes like strawberry pudding but it has the consistency of a thick yogurt or custard. Its amazing!", he said with a wide smile. The others tried the ambrosia and they also smiled and made noises of satisfaction at the heavenly taste of it; Silver looked to his left and saw Kimba barely being able to stomach his bowl of gruel but trying to eat it anyway as he had no choice.

Silver looked down at his bowl of ambrosia and turned to Kimba, taking the bowl of gruel from his hand and tossing it aside before handing him his bowl of ambrosia. "Here, take this", he said. Kimba was taken by surprise by this, "Oh no, I-I-I couldn't. You need this more than I do and it is forbidden for a lowly mammal like myself to taste ambrosia, at least...that's what the Hornetites said", he said miserably.

Silver surprised Kimba once again by turning him to face him, "Kimba...listen to me: I don't give a damn what the Hornetites think, they can all go to Hell for all I can. You are a young child with no family and if nothing is done to remedy that, you will struggle to live your life. Do you know who else was in the same position? My adoptive daughter Maria lost her mother shortly after she was born, and her father was killed during a war that took place long before she was born.

"My husband Shadow saw her and was reminded of a young girl he was friends with but tragically lost, and he promised to raise this baby hedgehog girl and protect her. I promised that I'd love him and help him raise that baby girl, that's why we got married. Because we love one another and we loved her, and so we could raise her into a bright and beautiful young woman and so she can have a happy life.

"I look at you, Kimba, and see what would've happened to Maria if Shadow and I hadn't adopted her; I mean, she probably wouldn't be in the exact same situation as you, but I know she would've been unhappy. You have no family, you have no friends, you're being forced to work for hours in a mine, you're barely fed and your bathroom breaks only extend to urination/defecation, you aren't allowed to take a bath and no one will treat you if you get sick or injured.

"So I don't care what the Hornetites think, I'll give you my food and I'll try my best to help you any way I can because I can't stand seeing a child suffering, I had enough of that during and after the war and even in future timelines, I don't want to see it anymore", Silver said before wiping his eyes furiously with the back of his hand as during his rant, he had started crying. The others heard his rant but none of them said anything for fear that they might upset him.

Kimba lifted his hand up to Silver's face and wiped away his tears, looking up at him with teary eyes as he took the bowl of ambrosia from him. "T-t-thank y-y-you so m-m-much. No one has e-e-ever cared for m-m-me this much, not even the elders who have t-t-taken care of me since I was a b-b-baby", he sobbed as he guzzled down the ambrosia quite hungrily due to its marvelous taste and his immense hunger.

Shadow pulled Silver towards him and hugged him, giving him gentle kisses on his face, "I didn't know you felt so strongly about that, Silvy. If you ever need to vent, you know you can talk to me, okay?", he said. Silver smiled and nuzzled his face again, "I know I can, Shads. I just didn't know when to bring it up, but now that I've done so, I feel so much better for doing so", he said.

After calming down, the clock blared out that the break time was over and everyone must immediately get back to work, this included our heroes; this time, however, Kimba stayed close by them since he didn't really have anyone who was supposed to be responsible for him and he was beginning to like them, especially Shadow and Silver. He did ask them quite a few questions about some things he was confused by simply because they never occurred in his home dimension.

"How can you two be married if you're both boys? Shouldn't it only be a boy and girl who get married? After all, two boys can't make a baby", he said. This made the group laugh, "Kimba, Silver and I are together because we love each other. Where we come from, gender isn't a factor when it comes to romance nor should it be: to us, it doesn't matter what gender you are or what gender you're attracted to, what matters is that both people truly love and care for one another, and that they'll always be there for each other", said Shadow.

"Hmm, that's not what I was taught but I guess different people have different ways of doing things and I guess that is true. I also guess you don't really need a girl to make a family, you did say you have an adopted daughter so I supposed it's not a requirement", he said.

The rest of the day went by with barely anything happening until the clock on the wall blared out again, "IT IS 0900 HOURS AFTER MIDDAY! ALL WORK WILL CEASE UNTIL TOMORROW MORNING! ALL SLAVES DROP YOUR TOOLS AND REPORT TO THE CUBBIES FOR NIGHTLY RESTORATIVE ACTIVITIES!", the tiny fake shrieked. "Does anyone know what that translates to in English?", Sonic asked sarcastically. "Its means its 9:00pm, and the slaves must stop working and go to sleep now to restore our energy for work tomorrow", said Kimba.

Sonic and his friends were led to the 'cubbies' the clock was referring to, which were actually small cave like spaces in the mine walls big enough to fit a small group of people, only unlike the slaves' cubbies that had a thin layer of rather musty straw on the ground, this cubbie's floor was covered by a giant pillow like cushion made from the finest silk and stuffed with goose down.

When they laid down, they couldn't wrapped their minds around how soft and plushy it was, it almost felt like lying on a cloud or a bed of cotton candy and it smelled just as nice as it was clean and smelt of fresh lilacs and lavender. One of the guards who led them there was about to take Kimba back to where the slaves slept when Silver stood up, "No! Leave him here with us, no one wishes to take responsibility for him so we'll do it. We'll make sure the little shrimp does his work and doesn't slack off", he said in a rather cruel and offhanded way.

Another guard smiled, "Ha! Even if they're lowly mammals, they too understand that the weak only serve one purpose of which to benefit the strong. It's a no wonder the queen wants to use them for her plans, leave the miserable fur bag with them. It'll do him well to be left in the hands of those who'll push him to really work", he said. The guard holding Kimba's arm pushed towards Silver before walking away with his comrades.

Kimba looked at Silver with tears in his eyes, "No no, don't cry Kimba. It was a trick, I had to make them think I really meant it otherwise I never would've been able to convince them to let you sleep in our cubbie", said Silver. Kimba looked on in surprise as he wiped his eyes, he had been convinced that Silver felt negatively towards him because of how he spoke but he had no idea it was a ruse to get the guards to let him sleep in the nicer cubbie.

Kimba crawled into the cubbie, cuddling close to Shadow and Silver. "Anyone else felt a chill run down their spine or am I just imagining that its a lot colder in here now than earlier?", asked Nyx as she rubbed her arms. She wasn't wrong, everyone else did feel a significant drop in the temperature, probably because of how it was nighttime and even if the day was blistering hot, the night air cooled everything down...but maybe a little too much.

"Don't worry, I've got a fix for this situation", said Infinite as he concentrated and made a pile of blankets appear in the center of the cushiony floor. Smiling gratefully, everyone took a blanket to wrap around themselves for warmth...all except for Amy. "Amy, aren't you going to take a blanket?", asked Nyx. Amy smiled, "No thanks, I've my own blanket right here", she said as Sonic changed into his werehog form and curled his body around Amy so she was lying on his right arm and held close to him by his left arm, his large and hairy body acting as a perfect insulator for heat.

Kimba was surprised by Sonic's transformation and Infinite conjuring the blankets, "How did they do that?", he asked as Shadow wrapped a blue blanket around him. "Its just something they've always been to do, they have special gifts unique to them. Now go to sleep, it's been a long day and you look like you're in real need of a good night's rest", he said. Kimba let out long yawn before curling up between the two male hedgehogs and falling asleep; Shadow smiled as he looked at Silver and Kimba, who were both asleep.

"Goodnight my little angels", he whispered as he kissed their foreheads and sleep himself. Amy let out a cute whimper as she snuggled close to Sonic, who was already snoring but thankfully not loud enough to keep everyone else awake; Nyx had fallen asleep as Infinite tucked her blanket around her, he was about to settle in when he noticed that the only one not sleeping besides himself was Rouge.

"Rouge, what's wrong? Is the blanket not warm enough? I could make you a quilt instead", he said. "No Infinite, the blanket's comfy, its just...I miss Knuckles. It's only been twelve hours since he was taken away but it feels like twelve years to me. I feel so...lost and sad without him near me and I'm scared that something might happen to him", she said.

"Now Rouge, I know you're scared but remember that Knuckles said you had to be strong and that he's been through worst so whatever torture methods they're using, and given that their queen needs us alive, chances are they won't -"

"I'm pregnant..."

"Wait...what did you say, Rouge?"

"I'm pregnant, Infinite! I found out last week and when I went to the doctor to see how far along I was, it turns out I'm already five months along. I didn't realize it at first because every since I went on that diet to lose all the weight I gained from my first pregnancy, I've been looking a lot slimmer than before I had Ruby. The doctor said its because of my toned body that I didn't realize I was pregnant and I only figured I was before I asked him because I had realized my period hadn't come for the past few months".

"Does Knuckles know about it?"

"No, I was gonna set up a little day out with him and Ruby where we'd have a picnic in the park and then I'd tell them, but we got ourselves kidnapped before I could even arrange it".

"Well...hopefully Tails and the others will rescue us before the time comes. We just have to hope and pray that they'll find us, and also that your water doesn't break prematurely and you go into labor and have your baby. The queen needs us so I have no doubt she might try to dispose of it".

That final sentence from Infinite scared Rouge but she knew he was right and she hoped to Chaos that she and the others are rescued before her second child comes. She sighed as she laid down to sleep, but she felt a shiver run through her spine, not out of cold because she had a blanket but because she usually slept with Knuckles' arms wrapped around her and since he's being held in the prisoner hold, she couldn't sleep.

Suddenly Rouge felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her midsection, gently rubbing her stomach; Rouge looked behind her to see Knuckles lying down next to her, she was about to ask how he escaped until she noticed this red glitchy effect that buzzed on and off around Knuckles' face. Rouge realized what was going on but she smiled as she curled up into Knuckles' embrace.

Infinite smiled as he twisted around to cuddle Nyx and fell asleep.

Meanwhile inside the prisoner hold, Knuckles had finally woken up to see that his head and arms were locked inside a stockade like a criminal in the Middel Ages; he also noticed that he wasn't in any pain, almost as if someone had healed him. Just then, the door opened to reveal Queen Vespa as she walked flanked by two her guards; Knuckles noticed that in her second right hand, she held what looked like a remote with a green button and a red button.

"I want you two to wait outside, I'll summon either of if I need assistance", she said. The two guards bowed before stepping outside and closing the door behind them; Vespa then turned to Knuckles, "I'm sure you're very confused. Well, my guards caught you trying to escape so they brought you back and took you to the infirmary. The doctors healed you and then my guards brought you in here and placed you in that stockade.

"The reason for that is because my son, Prince Fluke, disappeared at the same time you had escaped and I'm under the suspicion that the two events are correlated. So now you're going to tell me where my son is...so...where is he?", she said. Knuckles huffed and turned his head to the side, Fluke helped him by turning again his mother to help him escape, there was no way he was going to tell her that and risk the poor boy being severely punished for it.

Vespa smirked, "Oh quiet are we? Well I have just the thing to make you speak, I'm sure you're wondering what this little device in my hand is. Well let me show you", she said. She pushed the green button on the remote, suddenly Knuckles felt an intense electrical sensation in his nether regions; he grunted as he struggled to break free but the stockade held him in place.

He looked up to see Vespa laughing, "This is hilarious! We Insectoids have no need for physical pleasure when we mate, it's more of a robotic process: the male gives the female his seed, end of story. We don't partake in any of that "foreplay" nonsense you filthy mammals enjoy, but during my time with my harem of male Hobidons, I learned it can be useful for something. So I'll ask you again: where is my son? And if you don't answer me, I will activate the nanobots attached to the nerves inside your reproductive organs, stimulating them but stopping short so you won't feel relief", she said.

This woman is downright sadistic and insane, thought Knuckles as he rubbed his legs together trying to relieve himself. When Vespa was met with silence, she pushed the green button again and Knuckles tensed up as he felt the strong electric currents travel through sex organs before she pressed the red button to make it stop. It hadn't matter that she stopped the current because the feeling was still there, Knuckles wanted so badly to relieve the pressure building up in his loins but the stockade kept his hands in place and rubbing his legs together did nothing.

"We can do this all day long, I'm very patient and quite frankly, I find it amusing to watch you squirm. Unable to release that pressure within you, honestly it's a disgusting practice you mammals partake in. I don't understand the appeal of it but then again I, along with every other Insectoids species, don't share the same anatomy so what would I know? But it does make for a better form of torture than simply inflicting pain on you because I can tell you like this but you can't take it any further", said Vespa as she pressed the green button again.

Knuckles moaned loudly as a thin stream of drool leaked out of the side of his mouth, his breathing becoming shallow and heavy and as the currents got stronger, one thought ran through his mind: Rouge. When he was being tortured, all he could think about was his wife and the look of fear in her eyes as he was taken away. He kept thinking about how she must've been feeling at the moment, maybe she was still scared.

It was then that Knuckles knew he couldn't give in, not when he had someone who loved him and was fearing for his safety, and he also knew he couldn't betray Fluke after he had turned against his mother and people to help him. Fluke was a good boy, he thought all of this was wrong and wanted no part of it; he kind of reminded Knuckles of his daughter Ruby, and if he would endure any form of torture for his family, then he'd take it to protect Fluke.

Knuckles looked up at Vespa with a strained grin of defiance, "D-d-do w-w-whatever you want t-t-to m-m-me! I'm strong enough to h-h-handle it!", he struggled to say. Vespa growled in frustration, "You know you're starting to remind me of a Hobidon who was just as defiant! He would say the same things as you and no matter how much and how long we tortured him, he never gave in. I was forced to kill him because I had ran out of ways to break him; consider yourself lucky that you won't suffer the same fate as I need you but prepare yourself for long hours of this because I won't relent in my goal of breaking you or demanding to know where my son is!", she growled.

She pushed the green button once more, sending more electricity through Knuckles' lower body but this time he took it in stride, even keeping that defiant grin on his face despite the fact that he was struggling to hold back his moans.

Back in the mines, Sonic woke up as he felt the need to use the bathroom; he slowly untangled himself from Amy and quietly walked out of the cubby without waking anyone else. He walked around the mine half asleep while looking for a guard to take him to a bathroom when his werehog ears suddenly picked up a weird sound coming from deeper inside the mines.

Sonic walked in the direction of the sound until he came to a hole in the floor about three feet wide with a glowing purple light flashing out of it; as he moved closer to the hole, he began to hear what sounded like voices. Sonic peered into the hole to see a small group of Hobidons and Insectoids gathered together in front of what looked like an electrical device, which was where the purple light came from, it was the bolt of electricity that buzzed through the device.

Sonic watched as a Mothrel stood on a flat rock in front of a crudely painted picture of what looked like a dragon with black scales, red eyes and golden horns, and from the looks of it, the group was chanting some strange things.

"Hallelejah, Febreus is peace! Follow God's work! Deliver us! After only a slight punishment he received great blessings because the Cosmos had tested him and found him worthy to control the balance of life and death! In the name of Lord Febreus! In the name of Lord Febreus who sacrificed his happiness for us and became a God! Febreus, o holy Febreus! Hear our pain, hear our voices, hear our prayers! Accept our sacrifices! Yes! Accept our sacrifices!

"His end was regarded as a misfortune and his departure from us as annihilation. But he is peace! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! In the name of Lord Febreus, who now dwells among the immortals! He shall judge the people and rule over this world and the next! Those who trust in him, shall then know the truth! Grace and mercy shall be bestowed upon his elect! Deliver us! O Febreus, thou God of Death and Suffering! Our wounds are full of blood, as once your wounds were full of blood!"

Sonic watched as some of the Hobidons and Insectoids took sharp rocks and cut into their arms before throwing themselves into the bolts of purple energy, electrocuting themselves; they writhed and screamed in agony before falling over with singed fur and pained expressions. Sonic gasped in horror at what he was seeing, these people kept hurting themselves while screaming and chanting about some god.

Suddenly Sonic jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned around to see one of the night guards in charge of watching the slaves at night. "What are you doing outside of your cubby?", he asked. "I needed to use to bathroom and...", Sonic trailed off as he didn't know how to explain to the guard that he stumbled upon what he could only assume was a Slave Suicide Cult where a bunch of the Hobidon and Insectoid slaves were chanting about a God while trying to either hurt or kill themselves.

The guard simply led him into the castle to a rather extravagant looking bathroom before stepping outside to give him privacy; Sonic sighed as he walked over to the toilet and proceeded to take a leak, all the while thinking about what he saw in that hole in the ground. It actually terrified him that some of the slaves had formed a death cult, most likely out of desperation.

Kimba had told them that half of the slave population believed Sonic and his friends could lead them to freedom and, since Sonic did have friends back home who probably already knew they were kidnapped and were coming to help them, they'd be right; then there was the other half of the slave population that feared and hated Sonic and his friends because Queen Vespa needed them alive and healthy for her plans so they weren't allowed to become sick or injured.

They also weren't wrong for thinking so because the guards gave Rouge water and a back massage when she got tired, a guard put medicine and a bandage on the back of Silver's head after a slave pelted him with a rock, they fed Sonic and the others ambrosia which tasted like yogurt and had more nutritional value than the sloppy gruel they fed the slaves, they're letting him and the others sleep in a cave with a pillow for a floor and right now Sonic was being allowed to pee in a toilet in a bathroom as opposed to behind a tree or in a bucket or wherever they forced the slaves to pee at.

Basically, Sonic and his friends were being treated like the queen's pets and the slaves, who she cared so little about that she could kill them and force them to procreate as much and as frequently as she wanted with no remorse, despised them for it but what they didn't understand was that Sonic and his friends were just as much prisoners as they were. They had no say in any of this and if it wasn't for the cuffs that injected nanobots into their bodies to control their movements, they'd easily fight back.

Sonic sighed sadly as he realized that maybe a small group of slaves who felt that way about him and his friends had gotten desperate for freedom that they formed a cult, and began praying to some God they knew to be freed and then killed themselves because they thought that death was their only way out. Now Sonic didn't want to tell the guard what he saw because he felt that would only make things worse, make more slaves hate them, and that included the ones that did like him and his friends.

He finished using the toilet, washed his large hands and left the bathroom where the guard was waiting for him; he was led back to the cubby where he quietly crawled inside and curled around Amy without waking her and the others. Sonic figured he wouldn't tell the guards about the cult but he will make a note of telling his friends about it, they needed to know about this too and it wouldn't seem fair or even responsible to keep it to himself because he had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time he'll see that cult.

Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 19 and I'm sorry for taking too long to update but I have so much going on in my life that I don't always have the time to update my story but I thank all of you anyway for your patience and understanding. I'm sure you all know what it's like to make something on the internet people like but your personal life can get in the way. Anyway stay tuned for Chapter 20; until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	20. Chapter 20

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 20: The Isle of the Wyverns

The next morning, back on Bygone Island, the kids were on the beach making sand castles; Tails was busy repairing their ship, Knuckles was working out nearby and Sonic and Amy were in town doing some shopping, so Sticks was left to look after the kids. Right now, she held SJ in her arms, bottle feeding him while watching the others playing in the sand.

"I dubbed this the Castle of the Two Speedsters! Marvel at its greatness!", said Turbo as he and Speedy put the finishing touches on their sand castle. Maria smirked, "That's not nearly as impressive as my castle, the Palace of the Chaos Princess. I've got actual people in my castle", she said as she gestured to the miniature sand people around her castle. "Yeah but does your castle have a fire breathing dragon to protect it from invaders?", asked Finn as he gestured to the mini dragon he created with his powers.

They all laughed before looking towards Ruby to see what she made, they all frowned when they saw the sad look on her face; she made a sand sculpture of Angel Island, complete with a miniature version of the Master Emerald and her parents. "Ruby, what's the matter?", asked Finn. "I miss my Mom and Dad, I miss them so much. I mean, the other Knuckles is fun to play with but he's not my Dad. Also...I'm a little scared that without my Dad around, I won't be able to get a better handle of my Chaos powers. I mean sure, I did get us here but that was just a fluke. Pure luck, what if something bad happens and I can't use my powers to help us?", she said.

Her friends all looked at each other, not knowing what to say; they were all children and didn't fully understand her struggles, but that's not to say they didn't feel sorry for her. Maria walked over to Ruby and sat next to her, "Well...I don't have any advice I can give you since I don't fully understand the problem but I want you to know that we're still here for you", she said as she placed her hand on her shoulder.

Ruby looked at her friends and smiled, "Thanks you guys, I'm glad to have such good friends like you", she said. As the kids were about to go back to making sandcastles, Finn looked up and noticed something bobbing up and down in the sky above the ocean. "Hey guys, what's that? It looks like a seagull", he said as he squinted his eyes to try and see it better. The others looked up to see what he was talking about and then noticed the orange blur weaving lazily through the air.

Just then, Sonic and Amy had returned from shopping and approached the part of the beach where they left Sticks, Knuckles and the kids. "Hey kiddos, Ames and me bought you guys some food. We figured you'd be hungry...hey what are you all looking at?", said Sonic. "I think there's an injured bird trying to stay in the air, it looks like its gonna fall into the ocean", said Maria.

Sonic and Amy looked up to see what she was talking about, they could see the orange blur wobbling until it finally fell into the water a few feet away from the shoreline; Speedy and Turbo ran to the shoreline and jumped into the water, swimming to the poor animal. Sonic had an incredulous look on his face, "Wow...just wow...my kids from another dimension can swim...", he said dumbfounded. "Yeah, auntie Amy decided to pay for swimming lessons for them at the community pool so they'd know how to swim since uncle Sonic couldn't", said Finn.

"Guys! It's not a bird, it's a Mobian!", shouted Speedy. "And a really weird looking one at that", said Turbo. The twins wadded back to the shoreline, carrying the mysterious Mobian in their arms; when they got to the shore, they gently placed the Mobian onto the sand. The others walked over to them to see that the mysterious Mobian was a young boy with dark purple hair and orange fur, wearing white gloves and dark green boots; he also had insect antennae, dragonfly esque wings and a pair of spindly insect arms sticking out of his abdomen beneath his normal arms.

The young boy looked almost dead as he was breathing heavily, his limbs twitched, his body was shaking uncontrollably and there were dark bags under his eyes. "What kind of monster is that? I'll bet it's one of the aliens here to spy on us and that's why it's taken a form similar to us", said Sticks as she held SJ to her body defensively. "Sticks, now's not the time for your conspiracy theories! This poor kid needs help, we've got to take him to a doctor!", said Sonic.

He then carefully lifted the boy onto his back and carried him to the hospital with everyone following behind him. When they got to the hospital, the boy was lying on a bed as the doctor examined him, "How is he, doc? Will he be okay?", asked Sonic. The doctor turned to him, "I'm surprised this boy is still alive, he's beyond exhausted! Its almost like he went two whole days without eating or sleeping and his muscles are severely overworked which is why he was twitching uncontrollably. Right now, he needs plenty of rest and fluids", he said.

The doctor then attached an I.V. drip to the boy's left arm and an oxygen mask over his muzzle, and then draped a blanket over his body. "I advise that you all go home for now, I'll let you know if his condition improves so you can ask him how he ended up in this condition", said the doctor. Sonic nodded as he led everyone out of the hospital back to his house, though Ruby couldn't help but look back at the boy, curious about his physical appearance.

The next morning, Sonic and Amy went to the hospital to check on the mysterious Mobian, with the kids tagging along as they were curious about the strange boy; when they went to his room, they saw that he was wide awake and sitting on the window sill. "Hey there, little fella. You feeling okay? The doctor said you were half dead basically but you look pretty good", said Sonic.

The boy turned around to look upon his visitors, "Yes I've made a full recovery due to my high endurance level. You look like my mother's prisoners...but I can tell by your scent that you are not and that means that perhaps you can help me", he said. That's when the kids perked up, "You know our Mom and Dad?! Where are they? Are they alright? And what did you mean "your mother's prisoners"?", asked Speedy.

"Let me explain: my name is Fluke, I am the sole heir to her majesty, Queen Vespa's, throne. She is the ruler of the Insectoid Kingdom, which is located on an island about 200 miles from this island, where she's enslaved the lower class members of our kingdom as well as a race of creatures called Hobidons. She has a plan for domination over this dimension and your home dimension, and your parents are a necessary part of it.

"I refused to be a part of my mother's plans of supreme domination, so I betrayed her by trying to help a red echidna escape but he told me to flee and find help. I didn't want to leave him but my mother's soldiers were approaching and I had to leave quickly, so I pushed myself to fly over miles of open ocean for two days straight to find help. That's when I passed out when I approached this island", he said.

Ruby quickly approached him, "You helped my Dad! Guys, we have to go to this island and help our parents! And Fluke here is going to help us get there!", she said in determination.

Everyone regrouped at Tails' workshop a few minutes later to discuss what to do next. "I managed to repair the kids' ship so we can probably use it and the Tornado to fly to this island", said Tails. "Wait a minute Tails...I think it'd be best if the kids stay here with someone watching them while the rest of us save their parents", said Amy.

"NOOOO!"

They were all taken aback by the abruptly angry yell given off by the kids, "We came here to save our parents and you guys can either help us or back off! With the exception of SJ, none of us are babies! If we're all smart enough to fly a ship, then we can save our parents! And we know we're outnumbered, so help us and stop belittling us!", shouted Ruby. Then they noticed that her fur was beginning to shift from pink to magenta, and her eyes turning red.

The others all rushed to her side and hugged her tightly, "Ruby calm down! It's okay, we're here!", said Maria. Ruby took deep breaths as she felt herself relax, her fur and eyes returning to their normal colors. "Um...what the Heck was that?", asked Sticks. "Ruby has chaos powers just like Maria, but she can't really control them. Uncle Knuckles was supposed to show her how to control them properly", said Finn. "But I don't know anything about that...oh wait, you meant the other me...okay nevermind", said Knuckles.

That was when Fluke stepped forward, "I hate to interrupt your conversation but it is imperative that we leave now. Every minute we waste chattering is a minute my mother's plans are closer to completion", he said. So with that being said, Tails jumped into the Tornado with Sonic climbing into the backseat; Amy, Knuckles and Sticks climbed into the kids' ship along with the children, the three robots were at the control panel activating the engine.

"What direction to we head in, Fluke?", asked Tails as he used his communicator to access the intercom on the kids' ship. "The island is located northwest of here", Fluke responded. Tails then began flying northwest with the kids' ship following close behind.

On the kids' ship, Ruby was sitting by the Master Emerald, her left hand stroking the surface of it; that was when Knuckles came by and sat next to her, "Hey you feeling okay, kiddo? You've been quiet since we got inside the ship", he said. Ruby sighed, "I'm just...scared. I didn't mean to get so mad at you guys, but I did and I almost lost it again!", she said. "Wait...again? What...did this happen before?", asked Knuckles.

Ruby sighed again, "Well...you see, my Dad gave me a Chao egg as a birthday present, but it wasn't just meant to be my future pet but also a way to train me to guard the Master Emerald. I was so excited to because guarding it is a big responsibility and if I could protect my egg then I could protect the emerald. But then, a bully at school got mad at me because...his parents weren't as popular as mine or something...I don't know and I honestly didn't care, and then he smashed my egg, causing me to flip out on him.

"I felt so bad after it was over because I let myself lose control of my temper and my powers, and I don't ever want that to happen again. My Dad was supposed to teach me how to control my powers...until he got taken by bug soldiers, and now I'm scared that I'll either lose control and hurt someone or I won't be able to use them when I need them most", she said. Knuckles smiled at her as he carefully draped his muscular arm around her shoulders, "Don't worry about it too much, we're gonna help you save your parents before any of that happens", he said.

Ruby smiled back as she gave him a hug, "Thanks, Mr. Knuckles. You know, you may not be my Dad but you sure do remind me of him a lot and that's a good thing because that makes it seem like he's still here beside me", she said. This made Knuckles smile as he returned the hug.

Outside, Tails was continuing to fly northwest until suddenly a light misty fog began to blanket the sky. "What the...? Where'd this fog come from? I can still see through it but this is just so...random", he said. Sonic looked around the plane, "Maybe it...was blown...in from..."

That was when he trailed off and suddenly fell silent, Tails took a quick look behind him to check on him and found that Sonic had passed out. "What the...! Sonic are you okay?", he asked. Back on the ship, the others had seen the fog too, but then were unaware that the mist was filtering in through the ventilation system. Suddenly they heard a thumping sound and saw that Finn had fallen unconscious and fell onto the floor; Maria rushed to his side to see if he was okay, but then she passed out and fell on top of him.

"What's going on?", asked Amy. "I bet it's the aliens! They're pumping a gas into the vents to knock us out so they can abduct us!", shouted Sticks. Amy then faceplamed but before she could respond, she looked outside the ship's dashboard window to see the Tornado take a sudden nosedive before what looked like a pair of giant claws reached out through the fog and pulled the plane away. Amy gasped at this before she felt something yank on her dress, she turned to see it was Sticks who was trying hard not to pass out.

"I...told...you...so...", she stammered before she slowly slid to the floor with SJ still clutched in her arms. He too had passed out in her arms, calmly sucking his left thumb while his right hand clutched Sticks' top; nearby, Speedy and Turbo had also fallen unconscious while leaning against each other, and over by the Master Emerald, Ruby and Knuckles had passed out in each other's embrace. Fluke laid off to the side as he struggled to keep himself awake, but it ultimately proved to be a futile effort as he too finally lost consciousness. Amy then turned to the three robots, "Orbot, Cubot, Metal Sonic! What is going on here?", she asked.

"Beats me!", shouted Cubot. "What he meant to say is that we don't know what's going on. This fog is some form of anomaly that just appeared out of nowhere", said Orbot. Just then, the three of them heard a thump and turned to see that Amy had finally succumbed to whatever it was that made everyone else lose consciousness and collapsed onto the floor out cold.

Then the three robots were jolted out of their seats as something had suddenly grabbed the ship and began pulling it away into a different direction. "Boy, I sure hope these aliens are friendly", Cubot said with a nervous chuckle while Orbot and Metal Sonic simply facepalmed.

Meanwhile over on Insectoid Island, Knuckles was roused from his slumber by a hand lightly slapping his face. He slowly opened his eyes to see a group of guards standing before him, four of whom held what looked like cleaning utensils. "What's going on? What happened to Queen Vespa?", he asked as he tried to regain his senses. "Her majesty was becoming bored whilst torturing you and then you, in her own words, had a rather disgustingly revolting reaction to it that she decided to take several hours of leisure time in the castle spa to forget what she saw.

"In the meantime, she's ordered us to escort you to one of the castle's bathhouses so you can cleanse yourself. Then once these other guards have cleaned the prisoner hold, we'll bring you back here and then give you food", said the lead guard. The guards stepped forward to unlock Knuckles from the stockade and that's when he saw what they were talking about: there was a dried white substance stuck to the floor as well as his inner thighs.

Seeing the substance made Knuckles blush in embarrassment but then he thought about what the guard had said about how Queen Vespa reacted and it made him chuckle to himself. _Glad I was able to give her some torment in return_ , he thought as the guards led him through the castle until they came upon a large set of double doors. "All the cleansing materials you need can be found inside, take as long as you need to and don't think about escaping. That room has no windows", said the guard as he pushed Knuckles into the bathhouse before closing and locking the door.

The inside of the room was warm and steamy, there were a few shelves on the walls that held various types of strange bath products and the actual tub was as big as a backyard swimming pool and took up most of the space in the room. Knuckles walked over to one of the shelves and grabbed a bottle of fruit scented body wash before walking over to the edge of the tub; he proceeded to remove his gloves and shoes when he suddenly heard a strange noise, it sounded like two people kissing.

He walked around the edge of the tub to find...

"Silver?! Shadow?!"

As it turned out, Knuckles wasn't the only one inside the bathhouse. Silver and Shadow were there as well, and since they were all alone in the room before Knuckles showed up, they decided to have a passionate make-out session in the privacy of the bathhouse. But their kissing was interrupted when Knuckles had caught them, "Oh, um...hi Knuckles", Silver said with a nervous smile. Shadow slowly pulled away from his husband, "Well...this is awkward...and the mood has been ruined. So...what are you doing here", he said.

"I'm here because "her majesty" says I need a bath. Apparently she got bored while torturing me and decided to take some downtime", said Knuckles as he stepped into the water. "Speaking of which, are you okay? We've all been worried about you, Rouge especially", said Silver. Knuckles sighed, "Yes I'm fine, I've been through worst. How have you guys been doing?", he asked as he began to scrub the body wash into his fur.

"We're fine. The queen is making sure we're all healthy so whatever plans she got cooking up in her head can succeed, almost makes me want to get sick on purpose just to spite her", said Shadow as he scrubbed Silver's back. "And that's not all. Turns out that half of the slave population believe we're going to bring freedom to all of them but the other half hates us for being the queen's pets, so much so that a small group of them have formed a death cult!

"This morning, Sonic told us that last night when he got up to use the bathroom, he heard a noise somewhere in the mines. He followed it and found a small chamber where a group of slaves were cutting and electrocuting themselves while screaming for this death God to free them from their pain. The guards don't seem to know about it, but...it scares me to think that this has become so bad for these slaves that some of them believe offering themselves as sacrifices to this God will free them from enslavement", Silver said as a chill ran down his spine despite being submerged up to his waist in warm water.

He then turned around to hug Shadow, "Also...I miss Maria. I can't imagine how she must've felt then night we were taken or what she's doing right now. She must be so scared", he said sadly. Shadow held his husband close to him, placing a gentle kiss on his face. "I miss her too, but hopefully she told Tails and the others what happened and they're working on a way to free us all", he said. As he sat there cleaning himself, Knuckles couldn't help but think of his own daughter and how she might've felt about all this.

 _Ruby...my little gem...I hope you're doing okay_ , he thought.

Meanwhile in...somewhere...

"Mm...Daddy...? Where...where are you...?"

"Shh...calm yourself, little one. You're safe".

Ruby slowly opened her eyes to see a mysterious figure wearing a hooded cloak standing before, rubbing a wet washcloth against her forehead. It was then that she realized she was lying on a bed inside what appeared to be a hit made out of thick logs. "Tell me, child...does anything ache?", the figure asked in a soothing female voice. Ruby groaned, "Ugh...my head kinda hurts a little...", she croaked. The figure then handed her a cup of what appeared to be tea, "Here, drink this but do so slowly. You lack strength but it will return to you with time", she said.

"Where am I? How did I get here? And how long was I out?", asked Ruby. "You are in a village on a place called "The Isle of the Wyverns". For an hour you have been unconscious, child and it was the guardian creatures that safely brought you here", said the figure. Ruby then took a sip of the tea, enjoying its sweet taste, "Who are you, ma'am? And where are my friends?", she asked. The figure turned around to face her, slowly pulling down her hood to reveal her face, which caused Ruby to gasp in shock. "My name is Meeru, child. And your friends are being tended to by the other village healers", she said.

Ruby's eyes were wide and her was agape: the figure that stood before her was a tall, female echidna with bright blue fur, peach colored skin on her muzzle and deep purple eyes; she removed the cloak to reveal that she was wearing a green and purple sleeveless tunic with golden bands around her wrists and a golden belt around her waist. "You...you're...you're...", Ruby stammered as she couldn't find her words.

Meeru smiled as she slowly approached her, "An echidna. Just like you, child. Come with me, there are some individuals you must meet", she said as she held her blue hand out. Ruby hesitantly took hold of her hand as Meeru led her outside; when they stepped out into the sunlight, Ruby couldn't believe what she was seeing. What stood before her was an large village of log huts spread out everywhere, there were more of those blue echidnas standing around talking or doing tasks or, in the case of the children, running around and playing.

Overlooking the eastern side of the village was a large plateau and upon it sat what looked like Dragons with their wings attached directly to their forearms, and overlooking the western side of the village was a temple perched at the top of a tall staircase. Meeru led Ruby up the stairs to the temple, where inside she saw five more blue echidnas standing around a large hovering purple crystal. The first echidna turned around to reveal himself as an old man with a semi-long beard on his face, he wore a green and purple sleeveless tunic with golden bands around his wrists and in his right hand he held a purple scepter with gold accents.

"Elder Poturik, I've brought you the child you wished to speak to", said Meeru as she showed him Ruby who stood close to her nervously. The Elder's eyes widened as he gazed upon Ruby's face, "My word...so it's true! Child...you're the spitting image of Locke!", he said. This made Ruby do a double take, "Wait a minute...Locke? That's the name of my Dad's dad! How do you know my grandfather's name? Who are you guys?", she asked.

Elder Poturik nodded, "I expected you would want an explanation. Firstly, we are the Blue Furred Echidnas. We got our name specifically because of our blue fur, which we got when we ate these strange mushrooms that began growing around our village. You see, in the beginning our people had red or orange fur, but when we began to eat these strange blue mushrooms, they had turned our fur blue. And then when had children, they were born with this bright blue fur, and from then on, we referred to ourselves as the Blue Furred Echidnas", he said.

"Okay...that explains who you all are, but that doesn't answer my question of how you know my grandfather. And how are you even here? Dad told me that before I was born, he was the only echidna left on Mobius", said Ruby. Elder Poturik nodded sadly, "That, child, is a long and sorrowful story. You see, the clan of Echidnas that your father and grandfather came from was not the only one to exist, and the dimension you call home was not they're first home.

"About 100 years ago, Locke's great grandfather and his tribe had resided here on The Isle of the Wyverns along with us. We were all one tribe and lived together in peace, until one day when the Master Emerald was created by the gods and bestowed upon Locke's great grandfather to guard and protect. Suddenly, he held the Master Emerald in high regard over the Cadium Crystal, which was first bestowed to us by our goddess, Radia the Goddess Of Blessings.

"He claimed that we should put our faith into the Master Emerald, something we knew nothing about and which could very well have brought misfortune upon us all; he claimed that the chaos God within the Emerald could be trusted more over some flying beast, which we have always held in high regard since the beginning. My great grandfather and Locke's had gotten into a heated dispute over the matter, which ended in Locke's great grandfather using the Master Emerald to open a portal to another dimension, taking it and those who followed him with him.

"Years later, the Cadium Crystal had given my grandfather visions of the terrible fates that had befallen Locke's tribe, leading up to his son Knuckles being the last of his kind. But what your father did not know was that he was not the last of his kind, rather he was simply the sole survivor of his tribe. And we have watched him through the Cadium Crystal for all these years, seeing his many heroic achievements and most importantly, we saw you...the birth of the future guardian of the Master Emerald.

"Back then, we didn't understand the importance of it or the Chaos Emeralds, but after seeing all that your father and his friends have done, we see their value, we just don't hold them in such high reverance. Recently, the Cadium Crystal showed me a vision of the power that lies dormant within you, child, and that you have trouble controlling them, but if you'll allow me, I'd like to train you", he said.

Ruby took a moment to process all the information that had told to her, "I...I need some time think. This is all...so much to take in", she said. Elder Poturik nodded, "I understand, child. Take all the time you need, in the meantime, Meeru will take you to see your friends", he said. Meeru led Ruby back outside to the village where she saw everyone else sitting together, eating and talking. "Hey Ruby, you're okay!", said Finn. "Yeah I'm okay...and boy, do I have a lot to tell you guys", Ruby said.

She then sat down and began telling them the same story Elder Poturik had told her, needless to say after she finished, they were all shocked. "That's great! You and your dad aren't the only echidnas left anymore, that sounds pretty sweet", said Turbo. Ruby looked down, "Yeah we're not, but...I don't know what to think about all of this. I have so many questions about well...everything! I'm just...so confused", she said.

"Well, this is all confusing for me too. I don't even know if I'm really related to these guys or not", said Knuckles. "Whatever happens, Ruby, know that it's your choice. Only you hve the ability to choose what you do", said Amy. Ruby took that information to heart as she thought about what to do next.

That night, she went wandering around the village until she came upon a fountain; perched on top of it was the Master Emerald and the seven Chaos Emeralds were all placed into small holes around it. "I placed them here for safekeeping and told one of our guardian creatures to watch over them", said Elder Poturik as he walked up to Ruby. He then gestured to one of the surrounding trees to reveal a Wyvern sitting on the highest branch, looking down on the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds.

"Um...Elder Poturik, sir, can I ask you a few questions?", asked Ruby. "Yes you may, child", he responded. "Well first, why did we all pass out when entering that fog?", she asked. "That is something created by the Wyverns of our village, it is 'The Slumbering Mists'. When any living being enters the mist, they slowly fall into a deep slumber, the mist surrounds the part of the sky around the isle, protecting us from those who wish to do us harm", said Elder Poturik.

Ruby nodded, "Okay, so...why did you bring me and my friends to the village? How did you know we could be trusted?", she asked. "Because the Cadium Crystal informed me of your arrival by giving me a vision of your aircrafts flying near the isle. Using the crystal's power, I could sense that your intentions were pure but we needed to save you before you all plummeted into the ocean. I can tell that you have one more question for me", said Elder Poturik.

Ruby sighed, "Yes I do. That crystal can show you anything, so...can it show me my parents? Please? I wanna see if they're okay", she said. Elder Poturik nodded as he led her back to the temple, they stood before the Cadium Crystal as he tapped it with the end of his scepter. "Now child, ask it whatever you please but remember that you must proceed the request by saying 'oh great Cadium Crystal, forged from the scale of the goddess Radia'. That let's it know you hold it in high respect", he said

Ruby looked at the hovering gem before her, "Oh great Cadium Crystal, forged from the scale of the goddess Radia, can you please show me my parents? Their names are Knuckles the Echidna and Rouge the Bat", she said. The crystal glowed for a moment before displaying an image: it was of Knuckles sitting all alone in the prisoner hold, shivering from the cold; then the crystal glowed and showed another image: it was of Rouge lying in the cubbie, looking sad and lonely as she tried to get some sleep.

Ruby rushed to the crystal but when her hand came in contact with its surface, the images faded. "Mommy! Daddy!", she cried out. She then slid to her knees and began crying, she cried because her heart ached for the perilous situation her parents were in and because she couldn't do anything about it. She then looked up at the old Blue Furred Echidna that stood behind her, "Elder Poturik, sir, I wanna do it!", she said.

Elder Poturik was taken by surprise, "What do you mean, my dear child?", he said. Ruby stood up and looked at him, an expression of pure determination graced her features. "I want you to train me! I want to learn how to hone my chaos powers, I want to be able to rein them in and control them so that when the time comes...I can save my parents!", said Ruby.

Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 20, and I am back baby! I'm sorry for the long hiatus but now I have returned! I can't guarantee that I'll update frequently especially since I just started my third year of college, but I will continue to write until I've finished this story. I won't give up on it. So come back next time for Chapter 21; until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


	21. Chapter 21

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 21: The Plan hits a few roadblocks

Queen Vespa laid in her royal spa chamber, a green cucumber facial mask on her face and her entire body submerged in thick, brown mud; after Knuckles'...um...unfortunate accident, she had decided to spend the last two and a half hours detoxing her brain of what she witnessed. It almost made her regret deciding to torture him with sexual stimulation rather than continuing to have her soldiers beat the ever loving crap out of him.

As she reached over, with one of her hands that wasn't submerged in mud, to grab a cherry from a bowl that was close by, one of her attendants came up to her. "Um pardon me, your majesty", he said humbly. Vespa grumbled, "What is so important that you need to interrupt me during my all important spa time?!", she snarled. The attendant flinched, "I wanted to inform you that Dr. Eggman has finished work on Phase 1 of your plans", he said.

This caught Vespa's attention as she suddenly stood up from her mud bath, "Oh did he now? Well, let's just see how well of a job he did then", she said as she went into the shower room to wash the mud and facial mask off and put on her crown and cape. Her attendant led her down the long castle corridors until they came upon a room labeled "Technology and Mechanical Equipment". Queen Vespa entered the room to find Dr. Eggman hard at work building some sort of device.

"My attendant tells me you've finished Phase 1", she said with a devilish smile. Eggman wiped the sweat from his brow as he pointed to a part of the large machine he was constructing, this side of the device had what looked like several white, egg shaped pods attached to its surface. "Yes, the Energy Conversion chambers are complete. Though, the rest of the machine needs more work and you'll need to test the chambers to see if they really work", he said.

Vespa let out a chuckle, "Oh don't worry, I've got the perfect test subject to evaluate the chambers efficiency. Attendant, go and tell Yellow Jacket to bring the tiny blue rodent I had him and the soldiers capture a few weeks ago. He'll make a perfect little lab rat", she said. The attendant bowed his head as he left the room to carry out his task, that was when a spark of realization flashed through Eggman's brain.

"Wait...tiny blue rodent? You don't mean-"

Eggman's words were immediately cut off when the doors opened again to reveal Yellow Jacket and two Hornetite soldiers, both of whom were carrying a struggling small blue hedgehog. "Its that puny Sonic from another dimension! What's he doing here?!", asked Eggman. He was right, the two soldiers had Tiny Sonic clasped tightly in their four hands and he was struggling to break free and run away, but they were too strong.

"Oh so you know him. Well, I captured him for the express purpose of using him to test the Energy Conversion chambers after you finished constructing them. Let's see how they work, soldiers...", said Vespa. The two soldiers walked over to one of the chambers, pressing a button on the side which opened it; it opened to reveal what looked like four metal clamps and a strange circular head visor.

They placed Tiny Sonic into the chamber, clasping the metal clamps around his wrists and ankles, which held his body in a 'T' position; then one of the soldiers lowered the visor down onto his forehead, where it wrapped around his skull and clapsed itself shut. One of the soldiers pushed another button, this shut the chamber closed and then a strange pink gas began filtering in; Tiny Sonic held his breath to avoid breathing in the gas, on the off chance it was poisonous, but his lungs started screaming out for oxygen and he exhaled.

He then breathed in the gas and suddenly felt very drowsy, his eyelids began drooping and soon enough, he fell asleep; just then, a small green light lit up in the center of the visor and Tiny Sonic gave a small shudder as an electrical current ran through his body but remained asleep.

Vespa smiled widely, "Yes! It works! These little pods will siphon the energy from those mammals and use it to power my machine, while the pink gas filtering in will keep them unconscious. The gas is made from the pollen of a special flower known as "The Dreaming Lotus", breathing in the pollen will cause the victim to fall into a deep slumber and cause their brains to unknowingly trap them inside pleasant dreams, leaving them vulnerable.

"I had my scientists gather a large collection of the pollen and synthesize it with protein particles and other nutrients. To put it simply, the pollen will keep them unconscious while the nutrients will be absorbed into their bodies through their skin, sustaining them indefinitely as my machine siphons the energy from them. Meaning there will nothing to get in my way as I dominate this dimension and theirs!", she said as she began to laugh maniacally.

Meanwhile in the Honeycomb mines, Sonic and his friends were fast asleep in their cubbie since it was 11:45pm and the work day had ended about two and a half hours ago. They were all curled up with their blankets that Infinite had created for them, resting up after the exhausting day they had of hacking at the mine walls and lugging almost 50 lbs honeycombs into mine carts before pushing them up to the surface. Silver tossed and turned as he was the only one having trouble sleeping, or to be more precise, he did fall asleep but he was having a nightmare.

"...No, stop! Get away...! M-Maria?...No! Leave...leave my little girl...alone!", he muttered in his sleep before abruptly waking up. Silver sat up and looked around the cubbie, everyone was still asleep as his mumbling wasn't loud enough to disturb them; he looked to his side to see that Shadow was still asleep with little Kimba cuddling close to him, with one of his hands gently gripping his chest fur.

Kimba's fur was actually a lot more cleaner and straightened out because when Infinite and Nyx were allowed to go take baths, Infinite used his illusion powers to make Kimba invisible as Nyx carried him on her back. This way, they were able to sneak him into the castle bathhouse so Nyx could finally give him a nice warm bath; then when they were done, Infinite conjured a comb so Nyx could straighten his hair and fur out before they carried him back.

Silver sighed as he stood up and carefully walked out of the cubbie to search for a guard, he then found one sitting on a flat rock while using a smaller rock to sharpen his spear. The guard then noticed him, "What are you doing outside of your cubbie at this late hour?", he asked. "I'm sorry but I can't seem to get any sleep, do you have anything that might help with that?", said Silver. The guard dropped the small rock as he stood up, "What you need is a Slumber Poultice made from extracts of lavender and chamomile. Wait here while I retrieve it", he said as he walked away.

Silver then sat on the flat rock as he waited for the guard to return, using his psychokinesis to make the small rock float around in the air as a way to entertain himself; while he sat there, Silver hadn't noticed the figure slowly creeping up behind him. Before he had time to register this other presence, something struck Silver in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.

The figure then grabbed Silver's limp body and carried him bridle style as they turned to another figure that stood behind them, "Good. Now bind him and let's bring him back to the chamber", the second figure said. The first figure then pulled out two lengths of rope, using the first to tie Silver's arms together and then using the second one to tie his legs together; they then pulled out a blindfold and tied around Silver's eyes before picking him up and carrying him away as they followed the other figure.

The guard soon came back with a beaker filled with a purplish blue liquid, that was when he noticed Silver wasn't sitting where he had left him; the guard then ran over to where the others guards were standing on nightwatch duty, "We have a situation! That ivory mammal the Queen needs for her plans has vanished, he may have tried to escape. Half of you, spread out and search for him, the rest of you stay here and make sure the other mammals as well as the slaves don't escape", he commanded.

The guards went about to undertake their tasks, two guards stood by the cubbie where Sonic and his friends were sleeping, the commotion waking them up. "Hey...what's with all the racket? We're trying to sleep!", Sonic grumbled as he let out a deep yawn. That was when Shadow sat up with Kimba lying on his lap and saw that Silver wasn't snuggled up next to him, "Silver? Silver! Hey, where is Silver? Where's my husband?!", he said to the guards.

"If you're referring to that mammal with the ivory fur, he had woken up and walked out of your cubbie, requesting assistance from a guard for his sleeping problems. The guard had left to retrieve a Slumber Poultice for him, but he wasn't present when the guard had returned; he has ordered us to search for the mammal as he believes he must've escaped", said one of the guards. Everyone was taken aback by what the guard had said, "Wait...something doesn't add up here: if Silver was going to escape and found a way to, why wouldn't he wake us up? I don't think he tried to escape", said Nyx.

That was when they heard Sonic let out a gasp of fear, "Uh guys...you don't think, and I'm only speculating here, but...you don't think that slave death cult is responsible for this do you?", he said in uncertainty. Everyone's eyes, Shadow's especially, widened in horror at the thought; Shadow then set Kimba down and ran up to one of the guards, "You have to find my husband now! I think he's in serious danger!", he shouted in desperation.

Meanwhile in a small cavern in deep recess of the Honeycomb mines, Silver let out a small groan as he felt himself wake up; when he opened his eyes, he was greeted by darkness as he still wore the blindfold on his face. Silver tried to move his arms or legs, but he struggled as he felt them tightly bonded together with rope. "Wh-what's going on? Where am I? Why can't I move or see?", he asked out loud as he tried to figure out what was happening.

Just then, a bright purple light flashed on, though Silver could only barely make out the sight of it through the blindfold; he then heard the sounds of shuffling feet and the light buzzing of wings, that was when someone had ripped the blindfold off of Silver's face. He squinted his eyes as they tried to adjust to the bright purple light, but once he did, he could see he was inside a small chamber of the mines, surrounded by about twenty slaves.

Half of them were Hobidons while the other half were lower class Insectoids, all of them looking at Silver with crazed, bloodshot eyes; Silver recoiled in fear as he tried to crawl away from them but felt his back hit a wall meaning he was trapped. Silver looked around the chamber: there was an old tattered tapestry hanging on the wall, depicting a picture of what looked like a black serpent with long horns, red eyes and sharp teeth; in one corner of the chamber was a pair of chains hanging from the ceiling and in the other corner was a small machine that had purple sparks of electricity flowing through a conduit.

Just then, one of the slaves walked between the group until they stopped in front of Silver; it was an Insectoid, specifically a blue Mothrel with a white neck ruff, that stood before the frightened ivory hedgehog. "W-who are you? W-what do you want?", Silver said in a quivering tone. The Mothrel then grabbed him by one of his head quills and pulled him up abruptly, causing Silver to cry out in pain as pulling on his quill was akin to pulling someone's hair.

"We've been offering ourselves as blood sacrifices to the great God Febreus, but he has yet to free us from our suffering! Then I thought: we were doing it all wrong! We shouldn't have been trying to sacrifice ourselves, we are not the cause of our suffering, we ARE the ones who are suffering! What we should've been doing is sacrificing those who have brought suffering upon us, and they are you and your friends!

"The Queen needs you for her plans of domination, which is why she has been treating you as her little pets: giving you real food, water and medicine, allowing you to bathe in an actual bathroom, and letting you sleep in a cubbie lined with a cushion filled with goose down. As long as you are here, we will continue to suffer under the injustice of slavery! But if we offer you all as sacrifices to Febreus, he will be appeased and deliver us from our suffering! We have suffered and so now you will bleed for our sake", said the Mothrel.

Before Silver could fully register what was happening, the Mothrel commanded the other slaves to grab him, remove the ropes on his arms and then clamp his wrists in the chains hanging from the ceiling, leaving him to dangle in the air with his toes barely touching the floor. Silver struggled to pull his arms free but the chains were too strong, "Let me go! You people are insane! My friends and I aren't the reason for your suffering, we're prisoners just like you! Why can't you see that? And why can't you see that this isn't the way to solve your-"

Silver was abruptly cut off when the Mothrel suddenly grabbed his face, squeezing his cheeks together to silence him as he held a small, flat and sharp rock up to his face. "SILENCE! You sound like all the other slaves: those ignorant fools who believe you can bring salvation to us and the heretics who do hate you but refused to join our cause, saying that the great Febreus is not real and that our madness will consume us! So unless you want us to cut your tongue out, shut up!", the Mothrel screamed into his face before letting go.

Silver began tearing up, it was clear that there was no negotiating with these people, their insanity had already consumed them and they were too desperate to see reason; the Mothrel stood before him, smiling darkly as he watched the tears rolled down Silver's cheeks. He then turned to one of the slaves, a light green male Hobidon, and took something from him; he then walked behind Silver, watching him dangle like a fish on a hook.

 _THWACK!_

Silver let out a loud scream of agony as he felt a sharp stinging pain on his back, he strained his head to turn around and see that the Mothrel was holding a whip in one of his right hands. He then swung the whip again, cracking it against Silver's back again; Silver screamed again, a river of tears cascading down his face. The pain was unbearable, the stinging, burning sensation running through his nervous system; the Mothrel ignored his pained twitching and swung the whip again.

 _THWACK! THWACK! SNAP! CRACK! THWACK!_

"AHHHHHHHH! No...p-p-please...s-stop! It...h-h-hurts!", Silver screamed as he sobbed and cried hysterically.

The Mothrel ignored his cries and looked to the other slaves, "You see? You see how he suffers, how he begs for mercy? It's all a test, a test from Febreus! He wants to test our fortitude, our willingness to perform this sacrifice! Join me, my followers! Assist with the sacrifice and Febreus will grant us freedom for our devotion and loyalty!", he shouted in a deranged voice. The other slaves then began to join in while chanting "Praise be to Febreus, deliver us from enslavement!" over and over again.

As the Mothrel continued to whip Silver's back again and again, a few of the slaves lit the ends of twigs with torches and then pressed the ends of the twigs against against Silver's arms, legs, abdomen and one of his cheeks; Silver shrieked in agony as the twigs burnt through his fur and into his skin. The whipping became so bad that the lashes were bleeding and the blood dripped onto the floor, some of the slaves caught some of the blood and began smearing it on their bodies.

Silver didn't know how long this had been going on nor did he really care, the only thing he was aware of was the hot lances of pain rip through his back and the burning sensation of the burnt twigs being pressed into his fur and skin; he had tried to struggle to break free again but after so long of being tortured, he was sapped of his strength and now all he could do was flinch and twitch as he felt the whip lash his back again and again and again.

He was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief when the slaves had all stopped torturing him, the Mothrel then walked around him until he stood before the limp, bloody hedgehog; he used a hand to lift up Silver's chin so they were looking at each other eye to eye, he smiled at the sight of Silver panting from the exertion of screaming and the tear streaks that stained his cheeks. "Have you finally accepted your punishment? Have you accepted that you have brought suffering upon us all and the pain you have just endured shall appease Febreus so he shall grant us mercy and freedom?", asked the Mothrel.

Silver wanted to refuse to answer him because he knew how insane all these slaves were but at the same time he thought if he did, maybe they'd let him go; so he sighed and said, "Yes...I have accepted the truth and...and I'm sorry..."

Silver was having trouble staying conscious but the adrenaline from the pain he had endured had finally dissipated and he was losing quite a bit of blood, but then he saw the Mothrel give him an almost sympathetic look as he reached over to unbind him from the chains before carrying him in his four arms. The other slaves got down on their knees and bowed their heads as the Mothrel laid Silver down on a rock slab beneath the tapestry depicting Febreus.

The Mothrel then used a rag to wipe away the tears from Silver's face and the blood from all of his wounds, which didn't really help much since they still continued to bleed. Disposing of the rag, the Mothrel then looked back at Silver, who laid on the slab with one hand on his chest, breathing heavily. "How do you feel, hedgehog?", he asked calmly. Silver only opened his eyes a tiny bit to look up at him, "M...my body aches...and I'm finding it harder to stay awake", he said quietly.

The Mothrel then gently placed a hand on Silver's head, stroking his head quills in a comforting manner. "Sleep now...it will be over soon", he said. Silver tried to make sense of what he was talking about, but he felt too tired to care, and so he slowly closed his eyes and finally lost consciousness. The Mothrel removed his hand from Silver's head and reached behind his back, pulling out a small dagger. "I'll end your suffering soon enough, and by extension ours as well", he whispered.

He then clasped the dagger in two of his hands and raised them above his head as his other two hands held Silver down, one pressed to his forehead and the other pressed to his abdomen; Silver felt none of this as he laid there unconscious, breathing softly as the Mothrel held the dagger up above his head. Just as he was about to bring it down into Silver's chest, where his heart was...

"CHAOS...SPEAR!"

An arrow of yellow energy flew into the chamber and knocked the dagger out of the Mothrel's hande, before he had time to process what had just happened, he was tackled to the ground by Sonic in his werehog form; he held him down as he growled and snarled into his face, scaring the moth like man. The others slaves were about to run away but they were ambushed by Shadow, Rouge and several of the Hornetite soldiers.

It had taken quite a lot of convincing to get the guards to allow them to join in the search for Silver, with Shadow even threatening to slit his wrists if they didn't comply. Fearing the wrath of their queen, the guards let Shadow join in the search, bringing Rouge and Sonic along with them since the former was still a pretty good foot fighter and the latter knew about the cult and could probably sniff them out with his strong werehog sense of smell.

As the guards went about rounding up the slaves, Shadow ran over to Silver's limp body; he gently lifted him up into his arms, relieved to see that he was still breathing. "Its okay, Silvy. The doctors here will patch you up, you're going to be alright", he whispered as he gave his husband several kisses on his face. While he was distracted, Shadow hadn't noticed one of the slaves pick up the dagger and raise it above her head. That was when Shadow spotted the slave, "Shadow! Look out!", he shouted. Shadow barely had time to register this as the slave ran up to him, "You must die to appease our God!", she screamed.

She raised the dagger and plunged it down, but when Shadow looked, the dagger hadn't pierced his body but rather it had pierced Rouge in the left side of her hip as she had jumped into the path of the dagger to protect her best friend. " ** _ROUGE!_** ", Shadow screamed. The slave pulled out the dagger but before she could attack again, a guard stabbed her in the chest from behind with his spear; Rouge almost collapsed to the ground but Sonic caught her by stretching his arm out to catch her.

Rouge breathed heavily but it wasn't just because of the stab wound, she looked down in horror to see that the lower part of that one piece outfit she always wore was stained and wet. "Oh my Chaos! Where's the infirmary? They both need a doctor right now!", shouted Sonic. Two of the guards led Sonic and Shadow into the castle to the Med Lab as they carried Silver and Rouge in their arms; one group of doctors took Silver into one room to treat his lacerations while another group tended to Rouge.

"We'll need to stitch that stab wound before she bleeds out", said one of the doctors. "Forget that, she's in labor! Hurry up and deliver her baby before they both die!", shouted Sonic. Now, he hadn't known Rouge was pregnant again as she had only told Infinite about it and he was asleep when she did, but since he was at her baby shower when she went into early labor during her first pregnancy, Sonic could recognize what it looks like when the water breaks.

Sonic and Shadow covered their eyes as the doctors removed Rouge's clothes and placed a light blue hospital gown on her before laying her on a bed; they then uncovered their eyes and ran to either side of Rouge so they could hold her hands. One of the doctors took a blood sample from Rouge and placed it into a machine to be analyzed, "It appears this female mammal possesses A- type blood", he said. Another doctor turned to him, "Then go to the cold storage and fetch two liters of A- type blood, she losing quite a lot! If she dies right now, the Queen will butcher us!", she said.

Rouge began breathing heavily as she felt the contractions beginning, she squeezed Sonic and Shadow's hands tightly, almost crushing the bones in their fingers but they didn't care about the pain as their friend was in the midst of childbirth. A doctor looked up from the blanket draped over Rouge's spread legs, "Alright female mammal, I've used an anesthetic to numb your lower body so you shouldn't feel anything as I perform a C-section", he said.

Shadow used his free hand to gently stroke Rouge's head, "Its okay Rouge. Just breathe and push, it's almost over", he whispered softly into her ear. He then looked over to see Sonic clasping his free hand around Rouge's hand as well as his other hand that held it, and his head was bowed down onto the bed, he looked as though he was praying for Rouge and her baby to be okay.

Rouge let go out one final loud scream of intense agony until...

"WAHHHHH!"

The three friends looked up to see the doctor holding up Rouge's baby as he took it into a small room to be cleaned, then two other doctors worked to stitch her stab wound closed as well as the wounds made by her C-section; another doctor came and attached a bag of blood to Rouge's arm to replenish the blood she lost as well as placing an I.V. drip into her other arm to keep her fed and hydrated.

Just then, a bed was rolled into the room and placed next to Rouge's bed; upon it laid Silver, his body wrapped in bandages and an I.V. inserted into his arm. Shadow walked over to him just as he woke up, "s-s-Shadow...?", muttered Silver as he tried to register where he was. Shadow responded by placing a gentle, passionate kiss upon his lips; this allowed Silver to come to his senses and he kissed Shadow back.

A doctor walked in holding a small bundle wrapped in a blue blanket, "The infant is male", he said as he gave the small bundle to Rouge. She looked down upon her newborn son: he had a peach muzzle, a pair of two foot long black wings and bright red fur; a pair of big bat ears poked out from a curtain of Echidna quills that draped around his head, the quills so long they covered his eyes.

Rouge gently lifted up one of his quills to see he had her real colored eyes, the baby boy looked up at her and let out a soft coo as he tried to reach up and touch her face with his tiny hands. "My beautiful baby boy...my little Emerald-Jasper", she said softly as tears fell from her eyes. She felt a gentle hand caress her head and looked up to see Shadow smiling at her, "He is a very beautiful child, Rouge. I'm so happy for you", he said quietly.

"Can I hold him, Rouge? Please?", asked Sonic. Rouge nodded as she gently placed her son into him arms, Sonic looked down at the baby boy and smiled. "Hey there, little fella. Aren't you so cute with those quills drooping down your face?", he chuckled. "Can I see him? I'm a little too weak to stand up right now", said Silver. Sonic walked over to show him the newborn, "Hi there, little buddy. Aren't you a cutie?", Silver said with a smile. Shadow let out a soft chuckle as he looked back at Rouge, but saw that she had fallen asleep as she was completely drained and exhausted.

He smiled as he pulled the blanket up to her shoulders, allowing her to snuggle into the warmth of the bed; he then looked back at Sonic and Silver, the former holding little Emerald-Jasper as the latter was letting the newborn pull on his fingers. Shadow smiled at his friend and husband as they played with the baby, "Its moments like this that remind me that life is full of wonder", he whispered to himself.

Meanwhile in a mysterious room in the basement of the castle, the Mothrel as well as all the other slaves of the death cult who had tortured Silver awoke to find themselves inside a room lined with metal on all sides; in front of them was a screen of plexiglas and standing on the other side of the glass stood Queen Vespa and her second-in-command, Yellow Jacket. "Tell me...did the two mammals survive?", Vespa asked Yellow Jacket.

"Yes your majesty, but it will take time for the ivory hedgehog to recover from the lacerations and burns, and as it turned out, the white bat was pregnant and had a child", he responded. Vespa was taken by surprise by the news that Rouge had a baby, but she put that piece of information to the back of her mind, deciding to worry about it later. For now, she had a small cult of slaves to deal with. "You slaves have committed a grievous crime against me! You attempted to kill two of the eight mammals I need to achieve my goal of dimensional domination! I've realized that the punishments of starvation and beatings are too kind for you...so here is your punishment", she said through an intercom.

Vespa then pushed a button on a control panel, which opened several holes in the floor and ceiling of the room the slaves were trapped in; all of a sudden, a powerful torrent of red hot flames filled the room as she watched with a perverse smile on her face.

Meanwhile on the Isle of the Wyverns, Fluke let out a sudden gasp that shook him out of his meditation; he sat on his hands and knees, panting as sweat dripped down his face. Speedy and Turbo, who were playing in a pond nearby, noticed this. "Hey are you okay, Fluke? What's the matter?", asked Turbo as he and his sister looked at their friend in concern. Fluke looked up at them with fear in his eyes, "I'm...I'm not sure. I...I feel as though something awful has just happened, as if several small voices suddenly cried out in agony and were then suddenly silenced", he said. The twins looked at their friend with expressions of fear, genuinely creeped out by what he just said.

Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 21, come back soon for Chapter 22. Until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!


End file.
